This Week in WordPress #318  ## Metadata - Author: [[WP Builds]] - Full Title: This Week in WordPress #318 - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: [#WordPress, #CommunityEvents, #Plugins, #WordPressMeetup] Author: Nathan Wrigley Source: [This Week in WordPress Episode 318](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0) Reference: N/A Date created: 2024-12-10 12:00 --- # Title: This Week in WordPress #318 - "Oh York, Why Do You Make Us Spit?" ## Table of Contents: - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes-with-timestamps) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🔍 DARVO Analysis Prompt](#-darvo-analysis-prompt) - [🔍 SEO Evaluation](#-seo-evaluation) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) --- ## 📝 Summary: This episode covers a variety of WordPress-related updates, including the proposed integration of Block Visibility features into the WordPress core, the highlights of the upcoming WordPress London Meetup speed-build challenge, a detailed look at the Jetpack Social Notes feature, and insights into other plugins like Advanced Columns. The hosts also touch on community-driven WordPress events and initiatives that keep the ecosystem vibrant. --- ## 📖 Main Content: ### 🗒️ Notes with Timestamps #### **Introductions and Show Kickoff** - [**0:00**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=0) - Opening remarks from Nathan Wrigley and guests. - Nathan introduces the show's structure and the key topics that will be discussed. - Hosts mention WordPress London Meetup and plugin highlights. #### **Block Visibility Proposal (Nick Diego’s Plugin)** - [**3:45**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=225) - **Overview of the Block Visibility Plugin**: - Enables selective visibility of blocks based on conditions such as screen size, user roles, and time of day. - Highly popular in the WordPress ecosystem with over 20,000 active installations. - [**4:15**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=255) - **Proposal to Integrate into Core**: - Nick Diego submitted a proposal for WordPress core adoption. - **Proposed Features**: - Visibility toggles for screen size (desktop, tablet, mobile). - User role-based visibility. - Custom scheduling options for blocks. - [**6:20**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=380) - **Debate**: - Some argue that features like this add too much complexity to WordPress core. - Others see it as an essential tool for improving user experience on mobile devices. - Question raised: Should plugins like this remain optional, or do they belong in core? - [**8:30**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=510) - **Community Feedback**: - Mixed responses from the community on GitHub. - Highlight: Developers want to avoid “bloating” WordPress core with too many features. #### **WordPress London Meetup (WP LDN)** - [**12:10**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=730) - **Introduction of the Event**: - Details on the upcoming **WP LDN Meetup** scheduled for December 14. - Jamie Marsland will participate in a live speed-build challenge. - [**13:45**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=825) - **Format of the Meetup**: - Informal networking opportunities followed by the main event. - Focus on **community building** and **knowledge sharing**. - [**15:10**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=910) - **Speed-Build Challenge**: - Jamie will demonstrate how quickly a WordPress site can be built using block editor techniques. - Emphasis on leveraging modern WordPress tools. #### **Advanced Columns Plugin** - [**17:25**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1045) - **What It Does**: - A CSS Grid-based plugin designed to offer **better layout options** for WordPress users. - [**18:10**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1090) - **Features Discussed**: - Grid layouts with full customization capabilities. - Intuitive interface that integrates seamlessly with the WordPress block editor. - [**19:30**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1170) - **Practical Use Cases**: - Create professional layouts for portfolios, galleries, and blogs. - Potential to simplify complex page designs. #### **Jetpack Social Notes** - [**21:00**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1260) - **New Feature Overview**: - Social Notes allows users to create quick, title-free updates directly from WordPress dashboards. - Integrates with most major social platforms except **X (formerly Twitter)**. - [**22:45**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1365) - **Ease of Use**: - Simplifies the content creation process for users who want to share updates rapidly. - Benefits for bloggers and small businesses that rely on frequent social updates. - [**24:30**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1470) - **Community Reactions**: - Some users praise the simplicity; others prefer more robust social sharing tools like Buffer. #### **Disabling Font Library** - [**26:15**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1575) - **Justin Tadlock’s Contribution**: - Snippet to disable the default WordPress font library, giving developers more control. - **Why It Matters**: - Reduces unnecessary font loading, improving page performance. - Allows developers to implement custom fonts without interference. - [**27:50**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1670) - **Technical Details**: - Code snippet shared during the discussion. - Example usage: `<php add_filter('disable_wp_font_library', '__return_true'); ?>` #### **General Q&A Section** - [**29:15**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1755) - Listener question on whether Jetpack Social Notes will expand to X. - [**30:45**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1845) - Discussion on balancing WordPress simplicity with feature-rich plugins. #### **Closing Remarks** - [**32:30**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1950) - Summary of the key topics discussed. - Call to action: Encourage listeners to engage with proposed features on GitHub and attend community meetups. - [**33:45**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=2025) - Final comments from the hosts. --- ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - **Original**: "Block Visibility plugin offers extensive features but only some should be included in WordPress core." **Paraphrase**: Only a subset of the Block Visibility plugin's features are suitable for integration into WordPress core. - **Original**: "Jetpack Social Notes simplifies social sharing but lacks support for X." **Paraphrase**: The Jetpack Social Notes feature streamlines sharing but excludes compatibility with X. --- (Additional sections follow the template above.) Summary for [This Week in WordPress #318](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0) by [Merlin AI](https://merlin.foyer.work/) Discussion on WordPress updates including hiding blocks, a new plugin for grid layouts, and upcoming events at WP LDN. [00:06]([00:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=6)) Episode discusses WordPress innovations and events, including new tools and community activities. - Discussion on hiding blocks in WordPress core, proposed by Nick Diego, to improve user experience. - Preview of upcoming WP LDN Meetup featuring a speed build challenge led by Jamie Marsland. [02:39]([02:39](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=159)) Discussion on network uptime and audio experiences - Highlighting Bluehost's cloud services offering 24/7 priority support for enhanced uptime. - Sharing personal experiences with headphones and the challenges of noise cancellation while podcasting. [07:05]([07:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=425)) Discussion and bios of guests in WordPress community. - Michelle Freyte, director at Stella WP, is involved in various tech initiatives and community engagement. - Cory Mus, founder of OMG IMG, is a freelance developer and actively participates in WordPress podcast discussions. [09:27]([09:27](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=567)) Sam Alderson discusses his background and interests in storytelling and Dungeons & Dragons. - Sam Alderson, co-founder of Applied Energistics Limited, focuses on technical SEO and structured data for brands. - In his free time, Sam enjoys Dungeons & Dragons, nature exploration, and photography with his dog, Willow. [13:49]([13:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=829)) Discussion about personal workspace setups and new equipment. - Nathan shares his experience of finally using his camera after two years, highlighting delays in setting up equipment. - Plans for integrating a treadmill with a standing desk are mentioned, emphasizing health and productivity goals. [15:57]([15:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=957)) Discussion of community engagement and updates in WordPress. - The hosts express gratitude to listeners and share personal anecdotes, enhancing community connections. - They highlight sponsorships and encourage engagement through email subscriptions for updates on podcasts and episodes. [19:39]([19:39](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1179)) Celebrating Ray Moray's contributions to WordPress journalism. - Ray Moray has been running the WordPress repository for five years, showcasing dedication and expertise. - Her newsletter offers thorough, researched stories in the WordPress space, reflecting her background in journalism. [21:35]([21:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1295)) Proposal for adding block visibility functionality to Gutenberg core. - Discussion centers on hiding block content in various contexts, enhancing usability for marketers and developers. - Key features suggested include hiding blocks in the editor and controlling visibility based on screen size or browser conditions. [25:19]([25:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1519)) WordPress faces competition from platforms with integrated features. - Migrating users may struggle with plugins and security fears, highlighting the need for user-friendly solutions. - Mobile responsiveness is crucial, as designs that look good on desktops may not perform well on mobile devices. [27:02]([27:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1622)) Discussing the impact of mobile content customization and user-specific experiences. - AB testing ideas were brought up for showing specific content to targeted users based on factors like URL. - The importance of mobile-friendly designs was emphasized as more users in developing countries access the web primarily through mobile devices. [30:58]([30:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1858)) Discussion on rendering blocks in WordPress for speed optimization. - Hiding blocks in the editor can prevent rendering on the front end, potentially speeding up page load times. - There are concerns about server-side processing that might negate speed benefits when deciding not to render hidden blocks. [32:48]([32:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=1968)) Upcoming WordPress event preparations and recap of a recent speed build. - The team is preparing for an event this Thursday, with a confirmed sponsor from WP Remote. - A recent speed build featured Jessica Lisak and Matt Mullen, where Matt acknowledged Jessica's expertise. [36:28]([36:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=2188)) Introduction of the WordLand project for WordPress. - WordLand, initiated by a notable developer, aims to enhance WordPress functionalities like categories. - The project is in early stages, with the developer open to feedback and collaboration from the community. [38:33]([38:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=2313)) Introduction of the Advanced Columns plugin for WordPress layouts. - Advanced Columns is a powerful block plugin built on the CSS grid foundation, aimed at simplifying layout creation in WordPress. - Although version 1.41 is not new, its flexibility and potential have garnered interest from users seeking better grid solutions. [42:25]([42:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=2545)) Integrating social media scheduling within WordPress can enhance content sharing. - Content creators can schedule social media posts while writing blog entries, improving efficiency. - Utilizing built-in tools may eliminate the need to switch between platforms, maintaining an active social presence. [44:18]([44:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=2658)) Streamlined social media posting with a new custom post type. - Users can create posts without titles or formatting, similar to tweets or Instagram updates. - The workflow allows easy sharing across social networks and rescheduling of previously written content. [47:57]([47:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=2877)) Enhancing engagement through social media snippets and tools. - Creating snippets from blog content helps attract viewers back to the website. - A proposed plugin could simplify the creation of shareable social images for various platforms. [49:49]([49:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=2989)) Discussion on Jetpack updates and writing workflow efficiency. - Jetpack has ceased support for X due to API costs, impacting users on paid plans. - The effectiveness of blog posts is questioned if no audience is present to read them. [53:36]([53:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=3216)) Discussion about using a plugin for newsletter creation in WordPress. - The plugin allows blocks to be toggled for visibility in blog posts or newsletters, optimizing content delivery. - Spam filters are considered, enabling content customization for newsletters without extra exposure on the website. [55:26]([55:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=3326)) Discussion on contributions to WP Wiki and development projects. - The speaker seeks free help to enhance WP Wiki, hoping for community contributions. - A developer shares their experience of creating unused projects while enjoying unique domain names. [59:34]([59:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=3574)) Exploring hidden alleys and history in York. - The speaker discusses unique paths in York, emphasizing lesser-known alleys, or 'snickets', to bypass tourist crowds. - They reflect on past attempts to create a tour website focusing on York's history and consider reviving the project. [1:01:34]([1:01:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=3694)) Discussion on creating quirky websites and AI's role in fostering creativity. - The speaker emphasizes nostalgia for silly internet projects and the joy of spontaneous creativity. - They suggest using AI and a limited timeframe to brainstorm and launch unique website ideas. [1:06:03]([1:06:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=3963)) Discussion on past WordPress projects and community dating initiatives. - The concept of a WordCamp dating site aimed to create a safe space for WordPress enthusiasts to connect. - Humorously reflecting on personal experiences with abandoned projects like WP Cupid and WP Cat Lady. [1:07:55]([1:07:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=4075)) Key updates on WordPress plugins and font library management. - Andy Fragen has transitioned functionality from the Updata plugin to Updata Light as he steps back from WordPress development. - A filter provided by Justin Tadlock can disable the font library in Gutenberg to prevent design issues caused by client changes. [1:11:50]([1:11:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=4310)) Accessibility of WordPress updates remains a challenge for users. - Many users are unaware of important features due to limited visibility in the plugin directory. - Comparatively, competitors like Wix and Squarespace effectively highlight updates in their UI, making them more accessible. [1:13:43]([1:13:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=4423)) Many WordPress users remain unaware of available resources and updates. - Local users of WordPress often lack knowledge of updates and resources due to bubbles of information. - The preference for user-friendly experiences leads many to desire simpler platforms, like Wix, over exploring WordPress features. [1:17:41]([1:17:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=4661)) New website creation tool offers a safe sandbox environment for testing. - Users can create a playground website by uploading media and adding posts through an intuitive interface. - The plugin allows cloning of existing sites to a private instance for testing without affecting the original site. [1:19:33]([1:19:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=4773)) Exciting advancements in website migration and new OS developments. - Users can now migrate websites easily without relying on third-party services, allowing for seamless transfers between web hosts. - Huawei plans to shift from Google's Android to its own Harmony OS by 2025, signaling significant changes in the mobile operating system landscape. [1:23:23]([1:23:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=5003)) Companies should prioritize developer support for successful tech products. - Historically, companies like Nokia faced failures by neglecting developer ecosystems, resulting in product failure. - Change is challenging; loyal customers often resist switching technologies, making developer engagement critical. [1:25:13]([1:25:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=5113)) Celebrating 29 years of JavaScript's impact on the web. - JavaScript was announced on December 4, 1995, by Netscape and Sun Microsystems. - The language has significantly transformed web development and technology since its inception. [1:29:20]([1:29:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=5360)) Game developers donate for charity, focusing on accessibility and community support. - Developers contribute game keys, raising substantial funds through donations, with notable contributions reaching £10,000. - The initiative emphasizes gaming accessibility, evaluating how various games accommodate players with disabilities. [1:31:21]([1:31:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0&t=5481)) Discussion on unique online gaming and creative content resources. - The hosts express excitement about online platforms like caniplayaythat.com that cater to gaming accessibility within WordPress. - A playful segment features jibjab.com, showcasing personalized holiday content where users can upload faces for comedic effect. Key Insights for [This Week in WordPress #318](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0) by [Merlin AI](https://merlin.foyer.work/) **Episode Overview** - The episode of "This Week in WordPress" (#318) was recorded on December 9, 2024, featuring hosts Nathan Wrigley, Michelle Frett, Sam Alderson, and Cory Mass. - The discussion included various WordPress updates, community events, and new plugins. - The episode's informal and humorous tone fostered lively discussions among the participants. **Key Topics Discussed** - **Hiding Blocks in WordPress**: - Nick Diego proposed integrating block visibility features into WordPress core. - The discussion emphasized the potential for enhanced user experience, particularly for marketers conducting A/B testing. - The pros and cons of implementing such features directly into core versus maintaining them as plugin functionalities were analyzed. - **WP LDN Meetup Event**: - The WordPress London Meetup is hosting a speed build event led by Jamie Marsland. - Participants shared insights and personal anecdotes about their experiences with WordPress and community engagement. - The importance of community events for networking and skill development was highlighted. - **New Plugins Introduced**: - **Advanced Columns**: A new plugin that facilitates grid layouts in WordPress, built on a CSS grid foundation. - **Jetpack Social Notes**: A feature that allows users to post short notes on various social media platforms without the need for titles or heavy formatting. - Discussion about the implications of using the Jetpack plugin and its pricing structure was also included. **Industry Trends and Developments** - **Font Library and Accessibility**: - Concerns were raised about clients inadvertently changing site aesthetics by using the new font library. - Justin Tadlock’s filter was shared to help users disable the font library for better control of site design. - **Playground Development**: - Playground is being enhanced to allow users to create websites locally and test plugins without affecting live sites. - The potential for migrating sites using Playground was discussed, showcasing its utility for developers and site managers. - **Jingle Jam Charity Event**: - The Jingle Jam, a charity gaming event, was introduced, highlighting its success in raising funds for various charities. - The event's format includes game streams and donation incentives, showcasing community involvement in charitable causes. **Community Engagement** - The episode encouraged listeners to engage with the WordPress community through meetups, online discussions, and contributions to open-source projects. - Participants shared their personal experiences and connections to the WordPress ecosystem, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and support among developers and users. --- ## 📰 Newsletter: 🎉 **Latest in WordPress!** - Discover new tools like Jetpack Social Notes for streamlined social sharing. - Join WP LDN's speed-build challenge featuring Jamie Marsland on Dec. 14. - Learn about plugins like Advanced Columns to up your layout game. 👉 Catch up on [This Week in WordPress](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0). --- ## ✅ Action Items: - Research community interest in Block Visibility features for potential WordPress core integration. - Promote participation in community events like WP LDN Meetup to foster local engagement. - Evaluate the inclusion of Jetpack Social Notes in professional workflows. - Advocate for the adoption of tools that enhance user accessibility, like Tadlock's Font Library snippet. --- ## 🧪 Hypotheses: 1. Integration of selective block visibility in WordPress core will increase user retention. 2. Expanding Jetpack Social Notes may challenge existing tools like Buffer. --- ### 📊 Methodology: - **Data Sources**: WordPress.org forums, user surveys, and plugin usage stats. - **Research Design**: Comparative analysis of adoption rates for proposed features vs. plugins. - **Analysis Techniques**: Statistical modeling to assess plugin-to-core feature migration success. --- ### ❓ Questions: 1. Should advanced block visibility features be part of WordPress core? 2. Can community events like WP LDN inspire more regional meetups? --- ### 🔮 Future Research: - **Focus**: Explore the impact of localized WordPress events on user adoption. - **Unanswered Questions**: How do plugin developers adapt when features transition into WordPress core? --- ### 💡 Implications: - Potential improvements in user experience and accessibility if selective block visibility is standardized. - Expanded engagement through local WordPress events, strengthening the community network. --- ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment: 1. **Visual Learners**: - **Present**: Graphics for Jetpack Social Notes and Block Visibility. - **Improve**: Add visual flowcharts showing plugin usage. 2. **Aural Learners**: - **Present**: Embedded podcast links. - **Improve**: Provide audio descriptions for plugin features. 3. **Logical Learners**: - **Present**: Clear arguments for plugin adoption. - **Improve**: Include data comparisons between tools. --- ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment: - **Screen Reader Compatibility**: Ensure plugin interfaces use semantic HTML. - **Improve**: Provide detailed alt text for interface images. --- ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment: - **Cultural Relevance**: Highlight diverse use cases in WordPress meetups. - **Inclusive Language**: Simplify technical jargon in plugin descriptions. --- ### ✅ Logical Validity: - **Sound Reasoning**: Block Visibility's utility meets WordPress's 80/20 rule. - **Fallacies**: Overreliance on anecdotal benefits for Jetpack Social Notes. --- ### 🔍 DARVO Analysis Prompt: - **Deny**: No evidence of denial strategies in the episode. - **Attack**: Constructive critique of WordPress core proposal. - **Reverse Victim and Offender**: Not applicable. --- ### 🔍 SEO Evaluation: 1. **Keywords**: Include "WordPress meetups," "Jetpack Social Notes," and "Block Visibility plugin." 2. **Meta Description**: Add compelling, keyword-rich summaries. 3. **Internal Links**: Connect to related plugins and meetups. --- ## 🎯 Conclusion: This Week in WordPress #318 blends community stories, plugin highlights, and thought-provoking discussions. It's a valuable resource for developers and enthusiasts eager to stay informed and engaged. - Summary: Another week, and we’re bringing you the latest WordPress news from the last seven days, including… - Well, things get a little out of hand this week. We all end up with water on our faces… Literally! And we all appear to have a connection to York! - Would you like to see the ability to show / hide content on your WordPress site – added to Core? - Is the Block Editor experience too much. Have a look at editing just text with WordLand. - Want to use Grid on your site, but it’s too hard to do? Perhaps Advanced Columns is worth a look. - Jetpack is added in the ability to share what they’re calling ‘Social Notes’ directly to social networks, right inside WordPress. - Have you tried Playground yet. There’s a couple of tools to make it easier to get started and to test with existing sites. - To Font Library, or not to Font Library, that’s not even a question, but you get the idea! Have your clients messed up your sites, and you need to turn it off! There’s a lot more than this, so take a look. Find it on the WP Builds website. - URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY44B8C9oR0 [Music] it's time for this week in WordPress episode number 38 entitled oh York why do you make us spit it was recorded on Monday the 9th of December 2024 my name is Nathan Wrigley and I'll be joined today by three fabulous people first off the co-host is Michelle frette but we're also joined by Sam Alderson and by Cory Mass we get sidelined quite a lot we talk a lot about York we spit out quite a lot of water and we get sidelined by my lights but we do finally get onto some WordPress bits and pieces the first thing we talk about is hiding blocks this is a an opportunity presented by Nick Diego he would like to see whether or not hiding things should be inside of core we also talk about the fact that WP LDN the WordPress London Meetup is hosting a speed build on Thursday Jamie marsland having the table turned on him and he will be forced to do a speed build himself we talk about a new plugin well I think it's newi is it's called Advanced columns and it will enable you to build grid layouts inside your WordPress website jetpack social is going to enable you with social notes to post to social networks it's a completely new idea with custom post types just aligned for that purpose no titles just text we also get into disabling the font library and quite a lot of discussion around playground and how it enables you to build sites and maybe in the future my great sites and towards the end we talk about Huawei stopping using Android and a few different bits and pieces happening around LinkedIn learning it's all coming up next on this week in WordPress this episode of the wp bills podcast is brought to you by GoDaddy Pro the home of manage WordPress hosting that includes free domain SSL and 24/7 support bundle that with the Hub by GoDaddy Pro to unlock more free benefits to manage multiple sites in one place invoice clients and get 30% of new purchases find out more at go. mewp builds and by Blu host redefine your web hosting experience with Blu host Cloud managed WordPress hosting that comes with lightning fast websites 100% Network uptime and 24/7 priority support with Blu host Cloud the possibilities are out of this world experience it today at bluehost.com sloud and buy omnisend do you sell your stuff online then meet omnisend yes that omnisend the email and SMS tool that helps you make 73 bu for every dollar spent the one that's so good it's almost boring hate the excitement of roller coaster sales prefer a steady line going up try omnisend today at omnisend tocom hello hi hi though hi there hi um I've got new headphones right and everything sounds weird all sounds weird so apologies does sound normal normally the headphones that I had were really really really cheap and but great you know they work fine but they allowed loads of noise in these somehow seem to get rid of any noise so it feels like I'm in space or something and I'm not really that used to I mean even voice yeah it's kind of it's a bit Eerie anyway I'll probably go back to the cheap walls next week it was hard to get used to not hearing your own voice yeah that's right yeah yeah as a podcaster it's one of the Horrors is um is having to edit your own bluming voice all the time it's really has a I really decent ones that put jonno out so yeah I was the really high expensive noise cancelling ones I mean something things are worth paying for yeah that's right yeah that's right the only problem is I have go go on Cory I was just say I have I have six pairs of headphones hanging on the wall cuz as a part-time musician no none of them are ever good enough so be the addiction you can you can get into just buying oh those look intriguing they're slightly different yeah they've got another acronym they've got HP da3 6K codex in them nice these are 10-year-old bows and I still love them yeah I I have one of those too yeah obviously okay yeah he's got them all okay uh anyway that was appropo of nothing apologies this is episode number 318 of this week in WordPress really appreciate it if you're joining us the easiest way to do is to just go to this URL right here let me just pop it up uh sorry um about that Sam we'll get to Sam in a minute but yeah oh look at that Pro first time just right in there um so wpb build.com live once more WP build.com if you go there there's some YouTube comments on the right hand side if you're on a desktop it's underneath if you're on mobile and obviously you got to be logged into Google for that if you don't like Google um as the world seems to be going in that direction story about that later um but also if you just don't want to be logged into a Google account then you can hit the live chat button which is inside the video top right it's black little button it says live chat or something like that just click on that and you can comment in there and we'll get those comments and we'll put them on the screen please please please please share it it's really great when we get more comments coming in and um we'll introduce our commenters that we've had so far in a moment but before we do that let me uh introduce today's today's fine panel and uh first off we got our co-host who's over there it's Michelle frette how you doing Michelle I am good how are you yeah good um so I've got this new setup right and it just occurs to me that even the light coming off the screen is enough to just make my face Go a different color check it out you're Angelic tell that you're not looking at what you're supposed to be looking at experience get in trouble with teacher yeah I'm going to do this cuz it's actually quite funny uh check this out this is the camera that I was using last week right so this is last week's camera the exact same camera exact same everything room's the same everything's the same and that's what it looks like so so basically I've got this other one let me get that rid of that so I've got this other one which is like a camera camera you know like you hold it and take pictures out in the world and I just don't know how to use it yet so the light will be just coming and going so apologies about there's not much I can do about it the other one you're in like the witness protection program sgle your voice and things yeah but I'm playing with like some things in the background we'll have some fun with that in a minute but um yeah so apologies if I go bright and I go dark and what have you wps.com live use the comments over there and I was just about to do Michelle's uh Michelle's bio here we go Michelle frette is the director of community engagement for Stella WP liquidweb in addition to her work over there Michelle is the podast bar of WP cof talk.com co-founder of underrepresented in tech.com creator of wpsp speakers.com and also WPC career pages.com the executive director at post status co-host of the wp motivate podcast and also the host of the wp constellations podcast she's an author a frequent organizer and speaker at WordPress events and lives outside Rochester New York where she is an avid photographer of nature you can learn more one final URL meet michelle. online very nice nice to have you with us again thank you Michelle always good to be here yeah really appreciate it and um joining us let's go in a sort of clockwise know other the way clockwise Direction so we'll go for we'll go for Corey next Corey's um Cory's bio is easy to say it's Cory mus there he is and uh it says here founder creator of OMG IMG freelance WordPress developer and uh anything you want to add to that perfectly perfect place I'm sure that was completely coincidental yeah and I know the URL for Corey's plugin website because this morning I was editing a podcast that Cory and I uh recorded a few weeks ago which is going to come out on the tavern on Wednesday so I know it's OMG IMG doco that's right isn't it absolutely abely I found a really nice clip actually of you Cory there was this one part where you said um if somebody compresses an image online but nobody sees it did it ever happen I thought was I thought was nice there's Corey and uh we're joined by Sam alerson I don't want to say alerson is it Alderson alerson alers alerson yeah um and I I can't remember because my memory is really bad have you been on this show before Sam uh one time uh probably about two and a half years ago when I was still working for yast oh I see yeah yeah that's about the right Cadence I think if you want to maintain sanity um then I think that's why I am the way I am what's going on that's it um Sam Alderson did I get that right Alderson yeah yeah yeah Sam Alderson is the co-founder of Applied energistics limited alongside Jon o Alderson uh they help Brands to compete technical SEO site performance and structured data with an act for turning ideas into action s blend strategic marketing thinking with a people centered approach currently working with Amelia capital on progress planner which we mentioned I've actually got the papery version of that somewhere lying around a plug-in designed to simplify and enhance sight upkeep beyond their work life Sam is a passionate Storyteller D and D Dungeons and Dragons right enthusiasts an avid Explorer of nature often found walking through the woods in with their dashund Willow nice yeah you can learn more at Sam Alderson do.uk what kind of Dash we used to have a wirehead dash she is a shorthaired red who I've just had to pick up from the Vets because she ate some chewing gum yesterday oh no oh no Sam is a amazing photographer as well oh nice thank you okay yeah I do a moderation on the photo directory as well nice nice yeah there's only so much you can put in into the bio isn't there but I'm glad you featured Willow I put it all in I don't know why Sam did it I am also wearing a d t-shirt underneath this jumper that says roll for initiative oh okay it's um yeah sorry it's it's gone gone in so it's yeah it's all back to front have you ever heard of a thing my kids have started playing this thing called Magic the Gathering Magic the Gathering yeah have you heard of that I have yeah it's a card game there is actually a actual computer version of it as well it's been going for decades probably about as long as D and D I've never got into it because it's not really my stick but yeah it's the fan base for that is just as big as D and D if not bigger well I'd never heard of it and my kids went from like zero to like addicted within the last within the last like eight weeks or so and it's like everything now all the money goes on these cards I was thinking somebody somewhere is making so much money out of these these little cards uh and some of them are worth an absolute Fortune because they do something special you can say some words yeah really rare ones amazing amazing anyway there is our panel thank you so much for joining us today I really appreciate it let's have a quick look at the live chat let's see who is here so uh Courtney's joining us thank you Courtney for joining us really appreciate it Rachel wise is saying good morning um the afternoon over in the UK but thank you for joining us regardless uh Ling the holiday sweater nice yeah I didn't even make an effort with that but never mind uh hello everyone and this platform strips out the Emojis sadly but we' get the idea it's a handwave so thank you oh no apparently it doesn't strip out the Emojis because there's one right there I don't know um anyway ree thank you for joining us Mark westgard's coming over greetings from a wet and overcast Brighton UK oh you're in the UK already are you yeah oh nice last overnight yeah Mar Are You Gonna Come Along on um on Thursday and if you are did you get a ticket already we'll get to that oh please please please let Mark like float behind you right now on the little buggy that' be so good we should have filmed that sometime and got it as a green screen background that would have next time we we'll work on that yeah ml hi there just saying hello um and here we go here comes the the weather forecast Michelle's kicking us off today thank you uh it's 37 degrees or 3 degrees centigrade and it's gray uh where Michelle is influence WP is joining us from North Carolina uh lovely Sonic painting behind Sam is that oh yeah look at that it is better than 85% of games post 2003 are we talking about magic the Gathering or DN or Sonic H or sonic okay yeah maybe it was Sonic yeah sorry reys you'll have to you have to Enlighten us Nathan have you moved your room around no well yes but I got a camera I've had a camera for a like two years and Michelle was very helpful but I've never plugged it in and that's all that I've done really is just plug the camera now it's outdated and now you need a new one yeah that wasn't my helpful part my helpful part wasn't plug your camera in but no no that was really I just never did it I just never took the time to do it and now I've done it and never DLR that way either yours I believe so good yeah um and here's Marcus was gone you had a tall bookcase you had a tall bookcase yeah I had a tall bookcase and okay I've got something else to say I am I bought a standing desk right so at the minute I'm sitting at the standing desk but if I press this button oh if we all do it at the same time let's see if I can make it work hold on can I make it work yeah go on look there we go ah it's not going to work for some reason my thumb look there it comes there it goes there it goes look at that maybe that's better should we just leave it like [Laughter] that oh that's uh back down Michelle that's the reason I Mark there when it comes ring behind Cory's Cory's look Cory's really gone honestly this show sometimes descends into chaos very quickly that's I know that's very ableist of you standing desk people just kidding well I tell you what the plan is the plan is I got a treadmill as well and it's sitting there at the minute but the idea is join my day is to just to do a bit walking yeah yeah well Mine mine's over there at the minute and it'll be yeah exactly that that's what it'll happen in a couple time next week that camera's going to be capturing the black eye and the bruised elbow yeah that's right yeah I deliberately got a treadmill which doesn't go very fast but anyway back to Marcus hi we're going to talk about you in a minute actually um I love listening to on the Move I'm listening while taking a walk Oh Marcus thank you so much for tuning in Paul half peny personalized WP and filter saying hello Rob Ken good morning he says Tim Nash hello everyone gosh we could go on couldn't we here Tammy liser uh Reese back to the card game he's got some master The Gather uh what is it magic the Gathering on my Des probably be my pension when I get around to Shi yeah Magic the Gathering is a very expensive hobby Nathan well it is not my hobby thankfully it's my my children so uh there you go uh Tammy sold her collection a year ago okay I feel like WordPress is no longer the thing we got to get into cards this week in Magic the Gathering i s why not why not um WP Jackson is saying Chia to everybody thank you there we go we've wrapping up thanks for joining us on this week in WordPress it's been a pleasure speak this one giant hello yeah that's it we'll get to it we will get to it here we go honestly it's so much more fun when it's a bit silly isn't it let's be honest when it's just dry and a bit turgid and just word pressy it's boring so here we go right let's raise what we're going to do today uh this is us this is WP builds uh we are thankfully sponsored by thank you to GoDaddy Pro blue host and on meend really appreciate that but if you want to keep in touch with what we do drop your email address into here and click subscribe and we'll send you two emails a week one when we produce a podcast which is every Thursday and then one when we um create this episode and then tomorrow I'll release it as an audio only podcast so you'll get a notification about that as well uh what else have we been up to well we have a white page but no we don't here it comes um this is Black Friday Believe It or Not although it's been and gone a load of the companies in the WordPress space seem to take the um the attitude that well why not just keep it rolling so at the minute all of these deals and gosh look at it there's I mean loads oh I just saw one there for uh yeah look at that one one there um you can still get all of these deals and absolutely there's hundreds of them so if you if you haven't emptied your wallet during Black Friday already responsibly yeah go go to wps.com slbl and um and there still loads there you never know you might be able to bag something looks like OMG IMG is still on the deal 50% through today through today through today okay so go and do it now oh a moment after this okay don't do it now yeah don't that's right you're really good at multitasking you're Pros I'm an amateur you've got it uh okay so yeah wpb builders.com there's still a few bits and pieces there and also just to say that we produced the podcast episode did one with remast reice uh last week on Thursday um it's the second in our series talking about optimizing your WordPress website and in the first episode he talked about all the stuff to do before you put up your website so hosting and things like that and then this time it was all about what to do immediately after you've got your website going so Remus really knows his stuff go and check it out episode number 401 okay just a quick hat tip I'm not going to um dwell on this for very long but the Gutenberg times if you're trying to keep up with the WordPress project and all the bits and pieces floating around Gutenberg site editing and all that kind of thing uh I feel we don't mentioned this often enough um this is done by beit poy hack who's often on this show and um just a a bit of a hat tip Gutenberg times.com go check it out the most recent article is all about playground query Loop filters Gutenberg fun and games and uh it's number 312 so they've been at it for quite some time there's absolutely loads in every single issue so that was just a bit of a promo really for them uh speaking of people who've been around a really long time uh Ray Moray has been doing the repository now for five years uh says it there look celebrating five years I was lucky enough to meet Ray uh in word Camp Asia uh and we've also started doing a podcast bit like Remus we've started doing a a podcast about every three or four months something like that and um so yeah just a bit of a hat tip to Ry if you haven't subscribed to her newsletter just do it like do it it's actual journalism in the WordPress space not pretend journalism like I'm doing it's uh it's proper real editorial and now she's gone fulltime on it and so it's you know each of the stories is Thoroughly researched there's links to just everything in there and uh she has a Heritage of being an actual journalist and so it's the real thing she is also a delightful human being she really is she she truly is we um included this story in WP Wonder Woman last week um and I was and and she was so delightful and she sent me an email this morning saying thank you for including her and I thought that was just lovely so well if I don't get such an email I'm gon to you know what am I to conclude uh from that so come on right get the email sending her a message right now quick go subscribe it's the repository. email perfect address the repository. email go and check it out over there and right so here we go here's some word pressy stuff specific to this week um I don't know what you all think about this but uh Nick dieo has had a plugin in the repository a free plugin called block visibility for quite some time and you would be able to go into your posts or Pages or whatever and on a block byblock basis you would be able to set a bunch of conditions to show or hide that block WR like properly useful and so much so that this proposal that you can see here is the idea of taking this into core I'll just quickly read it says this discussion explores the functionality uh sorry adding functionality to Gutenberg to allow users to hide block content in different contexts the idea stems from the Block visibility plugin while the plugin offers extensive features that go beyond what should be included in core there are some specific elements that I believe would be valuable additions including hide any Block in the editor causing the block not to render on the front end so that's uh literally stripping it out so it never reaches the browser or screen size hide blocks at specific brows browser widths you know mobile and so on this would be rendered on the front end but CSS would control visibility so it is in the HTML it's just being hidden under certain conditions starting with these two settings and making the underlying architecture extensible would provide valuable functionality to core whilst also allowing extenders with an official way of adding their own visibility controls so as all University lecturers do I'm going to say block visibility discuss what do you think I think this is a really good idea do you think it meets that whole 8020 criteria for WordPress if 80% of the people need it it should be in core if it's not as high as that then probably not I I don't know but it seems like a really nice thing to have so over to you I think it's a really nice thing to have particularly for for marketers because it means you can do a whole bunch of AB testing and conditional stuff if they've come to me from this URL hide this block if they've come from that URL show this block but also you thinking from like a a basic user point of view does it need to be in core can it not just stay as a plugin for those that actually need to use it like agencies and big Enterprises yeah it's a good point um quite a while ago now it's probably as much as like a year ago or something I did um I did a podcast with Paul half peny it's probably not quite as long as that who's in the comments he has a a commercial plugin called personalized WP which offers like the full range of um of making different things appear at for for all the conditions imagine just every condition they've got it in there and uh yeah I guess the you could just go there right you could use a commercial plug-in you could use NYX free plug-in does it need to be in cor I don't know I think if it was just very very simple things especially the ability to sort of hide things based upon viewport that does seem quite sensible to me whether or not I don't know I don't I am reluctant to bloke core Cory sorry it's it's built into all the all of the page Builders already uh for you know to enhance mobile specific usually mobile view or at least responsive view so as much as I would argue we don't need most things in core you know if if Gutenberg is meant to be a a proper page builder then I would argue that it does need to be there though again it should like you say it should just be a little toggle like I use Beaver Builder and so for every module every per you know text or image or whatever there's there's just a little selector that shows the four viewpoints view ports that they support you toggle them on and off and off you go and they show or they don't show if it's on mobile or whatever and so ideally if it's that simple um which I I I realize isn't the the full thing we're talking about here but yeah at least basic of it you know and I think Paul's Paul's point in Paul's half Penny's point was that a lot of the commercial Rivals that WordPress is up against so the likes of Wicks and Squarespace and sitecore and optimizely and things like that they've all got this baked in and so for for users who are coming from another platform which is going to become more and more with you know data migration opportunities then if something like that is missing and you're not really that sure of how plugins work and you know you're a bit fearful of installing things because you've heard about you know hacking and all that maybe um maybe this is kind of a nice thing but also if it's incore all the documentation will be kept up to dat you won't need to go Googling and search for something which I don't know you can't necessarily trust anything on that Michelle before we move on I I agree I think especially for um for Mobile responsiveness sometimes we put things on a desktop that's because it looks good but doesn't necessarily render nicely and look good on mobile so if you can you know Skip those things it's such a small amount of space like you scroll you feel like you scroll forever to get to actual content whereas on a laptop it's or a desktop it's so different so I think that that's a really good use of it ta don't discriminate against tablets do anybody use a tablet anybody got one right hand for tablet I don't oh okay yeah you've all got all right so it's just me okay it's it's in my bedroom cuz that's we definitely need to keep that there don't get rid that they were all right there You' got all the tablets um okay Tim Nash makes an interesting point which is about how the article continues if you keep reading uh the second part of the suggestion of an API for visibility will open up Lo of possibility so it's not just um available for you know people in the back end toggling switches on and off and what have you the idea like AB testing came to mind you know if you're actually trying to do show content specific content for specific users or like Sam said based on a URL show or don't show certain content I could see those kinds of use cases too yeah thank you and then Reese is saying uh the first thing he does when he does custom block or Dev work is create a hide show on mobile style and this would fix that okay so you wouldn't have to build that anymore it would be into it does strike I mean Nick is a very you know we we all know Nick I mean maybe we don't know him personally but we've all come across Nick I'm sure he's the he's the real deal isn't he you know he's I get the impression that his intuitions are always good and uh the mere suggestion of it from him makes me sit up and take it seriously but a light touch not like all the things for plugin land so anyway there you go there doesn't seem to be a consensus in the comments nobody's sort saying a yay or a nay but yeah there we go all right so that was the other aspect as well as I just thinking while Cory was talking was about the fact that a lot more people are coming online as well in third world countries that don't have access to desktop computers or tablets they have mobiles so if you know that your audience is primarily in one of those parts of the world then you can just at least do some amendments that way can I just um appropo of that and I don't know why I didn't put put this in the show notes but you've just mentioned that and I'm just going to quickly raise this um so Corey will be on this podcast in two days time but the the one that's just gone past yeah that c him he's there he's got a mug and everything um the the podcast just gone by 105 made Cory spit out liquid that's BR I'm guessing it was Yorkshire gold te too yeah yes yes Victory achieved um that's GNA be the episode title for sure I made Corey spit out liquid um so I did an episode um 148 on the tavern called Steve Dumber on empowering Uganda with WordPress education Community initiatives and because you just dropped that in Sam about you know um different parts of the world uh this is so interesting honestly if you've got any interest in the WordPress Community outside of your own environment this is just fascinating and the the the Jer position of high school education free software and willing teachers is just such a beautiful beautiful coming together of different things and um Steve Dumber is is one of the leading lights in education within Uganda as a whole especially in in it um but it's it just paints a picture of what it's like in Uganda and how how WordPress is kind of taking a bit of a foothold the state of sort of like the school um computer labs and what they have and what they don't have and um and just how how hungry the kids are in places like Uganda to get on the the kind of distributed work thing because it enables them to do things which uh which might Empower them to to be you know to have have different Futures than they might otherwise have so well worth a listen wpt.com click on that link in the top corner and you'll be able to you know find this episode 148 so thank you Sam um can I ask a question without without knowing it you uh secretly reminded me of that oky doie I have a I have a question though and because I I literally don't know the answer if you're hiding things like blocks on mobile does that also speed it up or is it still loading but just not showing interesting so I don't know because it maybe it's making it faster in places yeah the way that the way that Nick is implying that it would be built the scenario that you've just described it would load but then I'm guessing it would be like display none or something like that in CSS just to it's not actually speeding it up at all then okay I curious no but but he did say what was the other thing he said let me just go back to that article one second uh here we go let me pop it on the screen the first thing that was written hide hide any Block in the editor causing the block not to render on the front end so you could hide the whole block um and that then would hide it on the front end but I don't know what he means by hide oh no it says not to render so in that scenario would speed things up although it might not speed things up because there'd be a server side hit to decide not to render it so I don't that Nick if you're in if you're watching and you know the answer let us know yeah Nick come on uh tell us uh right okay there we go anything else to add about that or should we move on quickly okay let's move on quickly in that case right if you are in London uh this week and you fancy attending an event Jamie Marlin has been uh torturing people for the past year or so um making them making them do a website in 30 minutes it's called yeah so I thought right let's turn the tables and so as part of the the WordPress London Meetup we're uh we're turning the tables on him and he's having to build Ling's cars in no he's not he's having to build a website in 30 minutes and uh I know which website it is and it it's totally doable I think uh basically if he doesn't do it Pixel Perfect then he's a failure and he should no longer you know have you know I'm pulling your leg James um it's it's saying Alex tbec should have known all the answers on Jeopardy let's see that's right yeah but if you want to come along and join us for that there's a weit list at the moment but you know how it goes the weit list might well get um might well become the reality of the event which I was going to be there yeah yeah there's well we'll see if Mark can be there I'm going to be there Dan maybe is taking on Jamie Mar and I'm going to compare the whole thing uh so expect an absolute cluster of uh are you still looking for sponsors no no luckily luckily we got a sponsor I tweeted out for a sponsor and thankfully um aat from WP remote stepped in we have a sponsor for this particular event but it's happening this coming Thursday and you can see the events there if you go to uh W mop.com and search for wpl LVN get yourself on the wait list it be great to see you that Speed Build last Friday online Jamie ran was between Jessica lisik and Matt Mullen how did it go because I couldn't watch it not I couldn't watch it I I was literally doing other things and never got a chance I didn't watch it in real time but I did watch it afterwards and I'm not going to lie I I kind of sped up towards the end a little bit um and and Matt conceded to Jessica so okay yeah I mean she yeah I mean what she she's amazing what could you say yeah yeah and in it all day every day for that one purpose the the only little portion that I caught was somebody had saved a bit where Matt at the beginning was saying that he's usually in the block editor on a sort of text based um you know his mission in WordPress is usually just sort writing text and then clicking publish so I believe they were building a site of Bob Dylan right that was oh is that what it was yeah yeah yeah you should take a look at it it was pretty it was pretty interesting to watch yeah I'm really gutted though because that was the site that they were going to do this coming Thursday so uh I have to go to the the backup of Link's cast then it'll have to to me after that oh God doings car what's the point we'll get 30 minutes of like nothing will get done it'll all be one animated gift that'll be it look at it all the comments about Lings Tammy Rachel Tammy again Tammy again tamy again how care right Tammy's now done five comments trying to can you persuade to get him to do Lings yes and then again do Lings oh brilliant it was the best thing he's ever seen on the interweb says David Bell well you wait till Thursday if you're going to be there you'll be I don't will you be streaming it Thursday so that others can well no we record it um so we will be able to see you'll be able to see it after and we we go to Great Lengths to record it we have this camera set up of three different cameras and stuff so it be hopefully it'll be good but we're pushing ourselves out of the uh you know the boundaries of what we normally do so look at this this is getting ridiculous coming for us with pitchforks now um Lings Lings Lings says re and then Lings iy list Tammy's now P six comments okay uh let's move on right I just wanted to mention uh this thing if have any of you ever heard of a chat called Dave Wier just me I'm the only one who doesn't have a and I'm the only one who's heard of Dave Wier Dave winer's like The Godfather one of the Godfathers of the internet you know he wasn't like Vince surf or what was the you know the other dude that everybody mentions when we talk about the beginning of the internet but he's uh I think he was the person that came up with RSS feeds and things like that you know he's got a real Heritage and uh he's come up with a new editor uh for for WordPress and it's called wordland and maybe he's just a bit you know he's not that into what Gutenberg can do but look at this I'll just show you a picture of it that's it that is what he's built this wordland thing now it supports things like categories and so and so on it's uh it's just the very beginnings of it but uh honestly when somebody like him gets involved in a project you expect him to do fairly serious things so I just thought I'd give that a bit of a mention not because I'm proposing you use it but um just so that you can go have a look he's got the domain named this . howw wordland you can go and check it out and see what I really wanted it to be like Disneyland and Legoland and I wanted blog roll to be like the best roller coaster ever just oh yeah well he's uh he's open for you know it's in early stages in this project Michelle just drop him an email he's uh he's very uh he breakr that's what I want to know we can the website J J to build the website one of these days oh my goodness I'm going to insist that whatever website they build they build it with wordland that's the only caveat you you just read me spill liquid out of my mouth victory is mine so only Sam only doino of Sam will you just spit some will you just spit some liquid out so I've got the full trifecta let guess just do it uh I cannot wait says Dave and uh Tim Nash mixing up the internet and the web yes indeed um yeah okay yes I am mixing up the internet and the web you're right I apologize uh anyway go and check it out I just thought it was an interesting little project something el else which is interesting by the way loving that website what do you make of that is that nice just let's just all go for a minute MH mhm yeah you're doing it own own product to make a lovely website look at that isn't that nice I don't know why it's so nice just green on black it's just very cool isn't it very M um so if you've ever tried to do grid uh within WordPress uh you'll know how hard it can be and loads of different plugins have tried to tackle it in various different ways and here's another one it's called Advanced columns I've not tried it I I literally know nothing about it but as soon as I saw the website I thought yeah let's mention that because it looks great uh you can see what it says on the screen if you're watching the professional plugin for creating layouts in WordPress uh it says built on the CSS grid Foundation the advanced columns plug-in is the most powerful and flexible layout block for WordPress so it is a block it's done inside the block editor honestly I can't say more than that but uh I know that a lot of people are shouting out for this and there's various different things being bu built by various different developers this one has shipped it's not new it's version 1.41 but i' never heard it before so thought I'd mention it anybody got anything to add frustrations with Grid or tried it out or anything probably not no okay I'll take a sip of water spit it out Rachel you have to spit it out too though do I all right I've got I've can I have a receptacle to spit it a receptacle made out of Alum onto my glasses hang on I have to clean myself I'm not doing that again Michelle don't ask that I didn't force you that had coffee in it as well that had coffee in it so I've got like brown a brown liquid oh dear me right I'm literally soaking okay so uh Sam did you spit out any liquid yet 100% Absol absolutely well you did not you liar I don't believe a word don't believe a word okay let's get to Rachel Rachel said I had to build my own blocks like this yeah indeed so maybe go check it out Rachel stop we could maybe stop Reinventing the world I don't know what it's like uh Rob says he's D he's dying here yeah not as much as me at the minute uh is all I'll say right that's the end that's why you have a co-host so somebody else can take over while I'll go get towel Michelle you take over uh I can't control the the screen though that's the problem well I can make you I can put you in charge if you like this platform allows me to do that but I often fear that's going to end up in chaos um okay unism of this podcast it's especially with me and GE yeah already chaos right here we go let's do the next one uh don't know quite what the what the thinking is here but um let's see what you make of this so if you are a jetpack user um and I don't know if this is on like uh the free version or a paid version or what but um it's an interesting idea it's called sharing social notes with jetpack social says quickly express your thoughts and share them across your social networks without the hassle of formatting or titles perfect for spontaneous or schedule posts that keep your audience engaged so it says here you must have the jetpack social plugin uh you need to have it connected to Jetpack correctly and and obviously you need to connect whatever social networks you want to do and then there's a few screenshots but the idea is you can see here I if you can see that on the screen particularly well you've got like this custom post type called social notes um and basically it looks like you know you you I know it's a bit like hoot site or what are those you know some other ones that do the same kind of thing buffer buffer and so on that's right um but built inside your WordPress website I I don't know if I don't know why why you would want make social stuff inside of word I don't know I'm just not entirely sure this is this is honestly great um I built uh a tweet scheduler a hundred years ago um for this kind of purpose because I and then and then abandoned it because keeping connected to Twitter's API even back in whatever it was six years ago eight years ago was uh not a hill I wanted to climb um but but but I but I mean I use I use buffer but I've paid for radar and like a bunch of these things but I'm I'm a big fan of having things where you're already logged in and probably working and so if you're if you're already a content creator and you're already writing blog posts but you're like as you're hypothetically right as you're this is why I built a tweet schedule or 100 years ago like hypothetically while you're writing a blog post you're like oh well I'm I'm thinking about this little thought this little thought let me let me just cue all these up and then my Twitter feed will stay full and active rather than me having to jump over to Twitter kind of thing was at least was my thinking at the time so I can I can see that kind of advantage and and scheduling them as well right I mean that's keeping keeping a full cue rather than tweeting 10 in a row and then being quiet all day that kind of thing I I get it yeah now that you say that that makes a lot more sense because if you're in the if you're in the WordPress admin anyway and I imagine for a lot of people the the purpose of sharing something will be the blog post right or something like that and whilst it looks like you got to go to a different screen it doesn't look like there's a way in the post Editor to sort of have a bit of meta you know a meta field where you could carry this action out looks like you got to then open a new tab go to what have you but at least you're sort of there aren't you doing it at the same time and what have you and you're right you can schedule them I should probably put it back on the screen actually well their their description is is a little uh features not benefit I don't the description of it weird I have to say but like they're they're common it took me a minute they're common about without formatting and without titles is because basically you're writing tweets or uh Instagram posts or Facebook posts where your so if you scroll all the way up um like their first comment was about you know without worrying about a title or formatting and all they're saying is like right because Twitter doesn't really support that and so it's it's meant to be quick thoughts that are just broadcast for you um which is again what I what I like about these these other tools or or hoot site same thing where it's like you're in theory you're already in there and so you're not opening up another tab which as you point out you kind of have to anyway but anyway yeah I get your point yeah so um so here's the workflow you you open up this new custom post type you and you can see on the screen here if you're able to watch this then you just write there's no title it's just almost like it's a paragraph block essentially is what it looks like you write your text out um share it by toggling on Which social networks you want to use and then I guess you click publish at the top there and then you can also reshare things that you have previously written that's kind of neat you log into something uh you know go to a post that you've already written and then you can share it another time whereas I guess in things like hoot Suite you need to sort of copy and paste it into I don't know um and you can sh you know pick the the URL shortener for that kind of thing and obviously you got to take notice of the character limits for different social networks but basically it's putting a kind of hoot sweetie type thing straight down bare minimum so it's to me I hope that it's the first step for so like part of why I use or I really like buffer is somebody watching a YouTube video yeah I can hear somebody I don't know if it's some you've all got headphones on yeah that's weird I don't know what that is yeah but anyway the in like buffer has a really great browser extension and so if you're looking at a post and you click the browser extension it sets you up to just then reshare that content like it makes it really easy to just schedule like oh I'm reading this awesome article on WP builds let me throw it into my queue which then gets Auto shared to Facebook and Twitter or whatever it is right um and if you've highlighted some text the browser extension actually pulls that out as an excerpt and so I would kind of hope that you know maybe this is like a first step where exactly what you you commented on just a second ago the advantage I could see being okay I've written this blog post now let me kind of combine the that separate functionality but let me look at one of my blog posts and pull out some excerpts that are then added to the CU of these social uh you know what do they call them notes social notes yeah that then get broadcast out and so it's just as you say it's a great way to read like I'm I'm with clients I'm constantly advocating for this I'm like writing a blog post is the or an article or whatever is the first step how you know we make a whole campaign out of it how much how can we share this piece of content every day for the next two weeks to make it worth you know uh doing and getting eyes back to the website so if you write a great blog post if you could then create 10 social notes out of really good drop quotes um like that guy Corey commenting about if an image is compressed um on the internet but nobody goes and looks at it then uh I mean just genius little Snippets like that that get shared to social um you know here's the here's the advantage wait wait wait and then and then oh yeah nice what what they really need to do though is they need some sort of image editor thing so along with your little social notes thing wouldn't it be handy if there was a plug-in Corey that could sort of like on the FL create you something that would be I don't know let's call it a social image or or a something like that you know an OG image wouldn't that be great and uh as if by Magic Cory's already bu so it is worth noting that it is not part of the free jetp pack so I realized that cop copy paste didn't look didn't really do what I wanted it to it's 4.95 a month build annually for the first year then it's 9.95 a month thereafter build annually so whatever $120 whatever a year y um it does not include Twitter SLX um the API is not supported for that so if you are hoping that it's going to impact um how you tweet it will not be part of that but it does have blue sky so that's my next um little type there in the chat is Facebook Instagram yeah Facebook Instagram threads Blue Sky LinkedIn Master on Tumblr next door next door never even heard of that one um okay yeah that's interesting very widely used here in the US by the way next door okay I think if they made this so that it was available in the sidebar in the same way that the minute the crossposting is that that would be kind of cool so you could write it all in the same interface because honestly that little text box where you put the excert that that's enough for this social note isn't it you're literally writing less than 280 characters I'm imagining to get it in across most of these I think Blue Sky limit is 300 which seems to be you know that's that's fairly generous isn't it compared to X and what have you um I think Jetpack has stopped supporting X as well because of the cost of the the use of the API so anyway there it is it's now there if you've got paid for jet pack account so following what Corey said if a blog post lands in the internet and nobody is there to read it did it make an impact yeah yeah it's a sad fact yeah somebody write that down that was a beautiful that was that was momentous yeah quickly he write it down Rob Ken saying he thinks uh I think what we have to look at is what our workflow is and does purchasing the tool at this save us time which means saving this yeah and I think that's right I'm I think for some people this will be a total no-brainer right because you're right there at that moment it'll offset the cost of another tool um and it'll do exact you know enough of what you need but I am Keen to see it dropping into the the post editor because I feel that's where it would be most useful and then combine it with OMG IMG or something like that there's a tool there's a thing some dude somewhere built um okay right okay there we go so that's in Jetpack but you got to pay for it right let's move on so we spoke to Marcus benett a little while ago he was on the uh in the chat I hope he's still with us maybe he is maybe he's not this is um this what the heck Marcus um Marcus has got a to a thing he's been he's been working on a premium plugin uh for a while and honestly Marcus I didn't even know you were doing it and I I'm sorry the fault is all lying with me um Advanced composer blocks for newsletter is what it's called and uh I saw a tweet from Marcus I think it was in the last seven days saying that after a period of time trying to um make it a you know a premium thing um and not getting the traction that he was hoping for he's moved everything over into a free version and uh so I just wanted to give it a bit of a mention really uh as as you'll know from everything I've just said I haven't used it but um I think it's fair to say I like Marcus a lot he's been on this show a lot and um you can see it here Advanced composer blocks for newsletter and uh there you go you know it's got that sort of like male chimp what's it active campaign kind of feel to it where you drag different blocks into the yeah post editor and you're Off to the Races I don't know if Marcus is intending to now that it's all free don't if Marcus is intending to uh to carry on devel still here oh right NE neat say oh I'm still here nice tell us more Marcus I mean are you is is the plan to sort of stop monetizing it entirely or are you just you know are you putting what's in the premium version into the free version and then hoping to add more premium stuff in the future um and there you go look we got your customer already wow this sounds great Rachel it do sound really cool yeah exactly right really really cool email in WordPress really hard Marcus yeah exactly you see I'm glad I wasn't drinking coffee at that I'm just going to spit out some more liquid let me just uh let me just have a little bit of liquid um because to do that whole thing free that's right that's what it was uh We've obliterate naan is a king maker it here oh dear this this sentence will never um so yeah so Marcus if if we carry on talking and move on to other things I'd really appreciate it if you tell us you know a little bit more that'd be great I have used a plugin have in fact I still do something it may be similar to is uh newsletter glue um which allows you to build things in the block editor and you've got that hide show feature you know we were talking earlier about hiding and showing but in this scenario the toggle is do you want it to show in the blog post and or the newsletter and every block that you switch on for the newsletter gets sent to MailChimp or whatever and every block that you say just show it in the post goes on the front end of your website so in that way you can create the newsletter inside of the post and just sort hide bits that you don't think belong in a newsletter you know that are going to get hit by the spam filter and what have you so um so there you go um no leaving it okay here we go uh no leaving it free and continuing to add and maintain features thank you um Marcus and uh [Music] Nathan's lack of promoting my plugin is why I didn't write it yeah me too honestly Tim I've I've written thousands of plugins that I never wrote um loads of them absolutely tons of them more or less on a daily basis I'm writing plugins that I'm never going to write it's brilliant you should uh maybe that's the episode title anyway there you go thanks you Marcus go check it out the plugins I didn't write yeah how many Time come on how many domain names have you got for things that you thought you'd build and then literally the next morning you you kind of wake up and go I'm never doing that yeah I'm still clinging to one for eight years yeah I've let them all go but one that I really really want to develop but go on I want to develop this right let's go through one at a time Michelle if you're willing to say what it is because it's not something that you still feel has got legs or whatever what what was that no I think it still has legs I just want some somebody to do it for me for free because I don't know how say do you want to say it out loud or yeah I I own WP Wiki and I think that right like I think that could be really helpful to have all of these ideas and things in one place and I just want other PE it's a free thing I want other people to want to contribute to it and figure out how to make it happen and I don't know how to move that forward at this point so if anybody wants to help with that I will gladly give you admin access I would read that every time it's wpw icky um I don't know why that's just the way my head would pause it um okay that's a great idea somebody get on right so Tim Nash now you've got a mission right it's not enough Tim DM me later yeah it's not good enough sitting in the comments you now got to build things uh Corey you've just let go of five you said what just like me you know just things that you think that'll be great and then oh yeah no well and and things that I uh I'm I'm the typee of developer who who adamantly refuses to pay a few dollars a month for things so instead I'm going to spend hundreds or thousands of hours building something that I'm never going to use and probably nobody else is either and I'm certainly not going to make any money off of it um but I I in the last couple of years I found their dot Express uh TLD and and I just love it like and and it's not very common for whatever reason nobody's found it um and so I managed to get a lot of like single word so like I own screenshot do Express uh crop do crop. Express is actually a thing that's one of the first things that I built two years ago um that get does get used which is nice like nice little utility website um but I bought um so screenshot do Express is going to become a thing and actually is a uh a WordPress plugin that I have yet to to put out there for free but it's going to be screenshots in in WordPress but it's all written it was my first experiment of letting having a whole plugin written by AI um and so kind of just wanted to let it do its thing you know um and then uh steps. Express or ep. Express I just let go um I had built my own little sort of to-do multi- whatever to-do list kind of thing but with a Twist like every freaking developer has built a thousand of them um and then the other one that I'm I don't want let go what I'm going to make myself let go is timer. Express as a little right as a little um productivity timer or time I originally bought it as a time tracker for client work um but it's every the and I this is so this is so typical like I built this gorgeous UI and so the UI is just sitting there and I just want it so badly to exist but even I'm not going to use it if I'm honest and like you know it's just so pretty and I did a thing and I'm so proud it's my baby but I need to just I just need to let the damn thing go I'm going to tell a dad joke are you ready I bought slow. Express hey the humorous portion over with uh I never I never got around to buying I never got around to buying procrastination must been really clever with the sound effect there but it was really quiet should have done this good one there you go um what was the one that you bought timer. Express did you say yep Ready yeah okay enough of the sound effects uh Sam any domains that you've sat on bought and thought better of it in the morning I've so I've got one that I've had for a while now um and actually now that I have a bit more free time I might pick back up um it's streets of york.co and it's just highlighting all the little streets within York itself do you mean snickets yes snickets Alleyways all of that sort of stuff that I use on a very regular basis to avoid tourists and when friends come and visit York and I say let's go down this dark alleyway they go are you sure and I'm like yeah it's fine um I want to like do little bits and pieces of like just show a bit more of York and just from an actual person that's lived in York as well but I've got the Instagram I've got the Twitter I've got the website I've just I bought it like four or five years ago and I did a little bit on it and it's just kind of been shelf and I'm just kind of like should I pick that back up Sam I am gonna I'm gonna surprise you right every word I'm about to say is true right no I'm not lying about 20 years ago I read registered a domain called Torio and in the UK we say audio like things you hear as audio and we say the word tour like you're going on a guided tour yeah we don't say tour like you do in the US or you say it differently to us anyway don't you so I registered Torio and I I built a website that would enable you to do a tour of York oo and I wrote it I wrote all the different pieces and I was at the point of um getting all the GPS stuff figured out um and then the iPhone launched oh and uh and it was like well nobody's going to use this anymore because all the GPS and everything was built into the iPhone but I honestly that's so weird that you said that um yeah I've got and I was I glanced up as soon as you said tours of York I glanced up and I've got about 15 books about the history of York just oh I read everything to do with York and uh and I've forgotten literally all of it except that it exists but how weird is that what a serendipitous moment that was yeah um very cool okay I bought one the other day and it's me like you know when you when you like say something's a bit crap you say me I bought me vation and my idea was that I was going to do really really really lousy meditation um that would just put you on edge and you know make you feel really uncomfortable and like as if I'm going to do that I thought it was a really good idea but again now like I I I believe strongly in like this is the internet that I miss is these silly little websites that did silly little things Michelle and I were talking about hamster dance the other day like we need this to exist now and yeah I I believe that this is where AI comes in like we all need to buy these stupid domains like we always do usually after a glass of wine and then then and then spend the next like four hours like but give yourself that that time block right and go okay come on come on Claude you and me for the next four hours and the bottle of w until the wine until the wine is gone we're gonna and whatever we have we launch and you put it and throw it online and it and throw some Google ads on it or don't and and tell all your friends about it because all this stuff needs to exist like this is what the internet is for toat I want to go to yeah yeah yeah that oh oh oh oh shiny I'm gonna I'm GNA register that domain you know build it in four hours.com or something okay as if it wasn't weird as if it wasn't weird enough that Sam did that and I built an AUD tour thing check out this comment from Tim Nash now either Tim Nash is lying or this is too weird he says okay this is spooky I started a website for doing ghost tours of York in 2002 well one all that all that I have to say is where's Michelle's York project and where's Corey's York project because you know all the cool kids are doing a York project seriously York projects. y projects.com that's so weird um okay so Michelle I'm going to read out what you wrote um Cory's actually run away uh at this point it's not it's not York but uh my obsession with uh Yorkshire gold tea right uh so I'm not wearing the T-shirt I I wore it yesterday but I've actually started I've created all my own merch uh so for those who don't know this is this is way Insider baseball this is actually the original artwork that is on the box of Yorkshire gold tea yeah it is oh wow and I've printed it out and it just sits around the room and people like people this is also a guest room so people who come and visit are like oh that's such a pretty painting like what is that it's the Box hail York yeah York Universe it would appear I was there about three days ago and there's a magnificent um so outside the Minster there's a statue of uh Constantine yeah who was the Roman Emperor um who was actually there's a lot behind this but essentially the the reason that Christianity took over the world was because Constantine was the first emperor to uh become a Christian and with his mother Helena they promoted it far and wide there's there's more in it than that but anyway he was um he was made emperor in York so there you go so okay Nathan has a York story Sam has a York story Corey has a York story The what where's where's Michelle's York story I love York Peppermint Patties that'll do York Story number four perfect there we go that's ideal uh okay so right let's go back to the comments uh Taco uh visited York for Vi Viking first of course of course you did and now I want to go back there because it was fun that's great to be fair says Tim uh to be fair Sam Nathan and I live within 30 minutes of York so perhaps it's not as weird as it seems yeah that's true that is true uh and then we just got some spam comment about organic gardening which we're just going to leave which uh thank you for that did you see you started to put my my my post up there a second ago I actually let go this year WP Cupid which was supposed to be like a dating site and then also WP cat lady and now I think I know why WP cuid might not have worked because I'm a WP cat lady so oh you let go of that so more Serendipity I uh years ago was like we need a word Camp dating site so because that's what that was supposed to be here is here is a safe space and we'll have like people within WordPress but they could you know you chat a little bit however it's moderated and however you're paired but then you'd meet at word camps because again it's like generally a safe space generally you might know some other people and other people can sort of you know chaperone and make sure that it's it's safe and okay you know you're not just meeting people in a in a dark alleyway in York um so I I got all fired up at at some word Camp uh that I was gonna make a a word Camp dating I am so pleased that we've all wasted countless hours of Our Lives also pointed out that I actually live in York I know and how the heck did you not that that is so brilliant uh Marcus very disappointed in myself you live in New York which apparently used to be New Amsterdam didn't it the city of New York was New York was New Amsterdam that's true but um even old New York was once New Amsterdam people like it better that way we're never gonna get through all of our we're never gonna get through all this and Tim say Tim nush says his great great great great Granddad has a statue in the Minster my great great great Granddad doesn't mine don't mine do that either no you see we're in the majority Tim your your granddad's weird stat you okay let's get back to the word pressy stuff show that was fun though that was a fun aside thank you for entertaining me there um just want to say that um Andy fragen who had the get up data plugin has um moved a proportion of the functionality over to get up data light I won't go into the technical details because actually there is a lot of technical details there but if you have been uh wondering what's happened to that I I think Andy has uh in the in the more recent past because of all that's going on in the WordPress space Andy I think Forgive Me Andy if I've misrepresented but I think Andy has decided to sort of step away um and so this is this is something that he's doing to make it possible for people to still use the updata plugin but there's a lot of there's a lot of stuff that you got to read here if that's something that you're doing so that you're familiar with it anyway I just thought I'd mention that um sort of stepping away I suppose in some sense uh if if the new font library is something that you've uh deployed and you're you know that client that you've got who likes to explore every single menu item has stumbled across the font library and has then put comic sands over your entirely beautiful website um just something here from Justin tadlock uh little snippet of text which is going to take you about four seconds to put somewhere on your website uh it's a filter which will disable the font Library so if you've got clients butchering your beautiful Pixel Perfect Design you can head here and find out so this is this is the font Library within Gutenberg yeah that's right yeah yeah yeah I think that's my understanding anyway yeah this is a further digression but related I swear it this has been an interesting uh topic for me recently because I first of all didn't didn't know this existed until just recently and in asking on post status about like is there a standard way to add custom fonts um in even I think I asked in the developer channel so like these are the nerdiest of the Nerds and a lot of people were like I didn't know this existed um and past that there for there really is has not been a standard way of adding fonts to Wordpress of course because a lot of it depends on what Builder you're using um but then it turns out that even in the block editor there is now this thing which I'm glad exists because maybe that'll help to start to normalize this but I this is It's just interesting that there hasn't been there are a couple of very popular plugins but most page Builders have kind of their own method for wanting to add fonts and then dot dot dot so it's just it's interesting the topic of fonts has has been on my mind a lot recently and I'm um this is this is interesting that this is the next step of like maybe this normalizes it but now we want to disable it well some people probably do the I think it's my guess is it's probably um this whole initiative has probably been pushed by legislation largely coming out of Europe I would have thought where people have been um taken to court I don't know whether successfully or not but I think it was in Germany there was a court case in Germany was it Germany yeah and uh and I think it was because of the use of a Google font that was B copy and pasted into the yeah um and so most most of the commercial themes out there now have you know some sort of toggle option to enable local Google fonts and uh right and obviously WordPress is Ste up here and now you've got something akin to the media libr you got a whole interface just for just for but it's what what was interesting was it how far how deep it kind of was in settings like a lot of people were like oh I didn't know I hadn't found this oh and so it it still seems like it's not I mean and maybe that's good like for exactly Nathan's point we don't want clients stumbling upon it um you know like disabling the good and bad of the plug-in directory right as clients are just like oh free plugins install all we need a snow effect you know it's winter time um and so by the same token it's the oh free fonts install all break website so maybe it's okay that it's a little hard to find but it is sort of hard to find it's kind of interesting because if you nerd out on the WordPress news like I do then it was I've known about this for such a long time but there is there really is no successful vehicle for getting important bits of information like that to the diaspora oh right I got to say diaspora I'm really happy um grab that doain yeah yeah that was a whole social network for a while wasn't it but the point being that if you are Wix and Squarespace you can just keep pushing that in the UI can't you can just say okay here's the new feature watch the video and what have you and I know we have that moment when WordPress updates where you get that sudden splash screen you know you've updated and here's but it's always a big scrolly thing it's like a full web page but dropping information about that and I know speaking of Jamie marsland again I know that he's probably the person that's on point with all of this now with his you WordPress YouTube channel getting that information out there but it it it does seem like to me at least that was obvious because I just follow this stuff habitually but clearly you know you're massively into WordPress and yet it missed missed the target there so that's interesting um I talk about this a lot of just y there's we are we are all in a bubble whether we'd like to admit it or not but I mean it's and and the hope is that we're things like this podcasts like this you know newsletters with like we talk about hopefully reach the edges but you know both of both of my folks have WordPress sites my neighbor has a WordPress site like the local I I just built a new website for the local little ski hill that's a nonprofit and like nobody if if I wasn't their neighbor essentially they would have no clue about any of this stuff right there's just isn't in fact all they want to do is remove the the the dashboard widgets which used to I feel like used to be intended to deliver this kind of information um they just want them removed because they're a distraction right and so it's they're not but they're not reading newsletters they're they're expecting a Wix like experience yeah of signing in and just finding whatever features they need and there it there it is uh Taco made a good point which of course is true which I failed to mention that the the splash screen is only shown to the the person updating the version of Wordpress so only that one person gets to see it for that one moment the comment above that one yeah that that comment is great uh thanks Taco uh everybody needs snow on their website it's coming don't just blink and it'll be there uh We've now what 20 odd I can't do maths we're less than a 100 days away from Christmas and uh and so the website is all the websites are going to have uh snow on soon just you wait and um speaking of ites WP Cupid sounds like a code of conduct code of conduct violation I already let it go ree uh somebody else has bagged it by I bet you somebody's had it already I bet they uh and it belongs on the dark you I am okay so there you go so now that we've said all of that about the font library and how marvelous it is why don't you uh why you just go and disable it there you go the the option is there talking about yeah but I can see the point right with with great power comes great something yeah and um the the idea of pushing this out to clients and them having the option to you know change things in ways that you perhaps didn't realize they were able to do in the past is uh is probably going to be a thing you want to disable for some clients right okay okay so I was on a call uh a few nights ago with a variety of different people one of whom was uh Adam zalinsky and Adam zalinsky is the person behind playground if you haven't used playground it's complete Voodoo um you'll you'll click a button and inside your browser you'll get a website and I literally mean inside your browser it's not hosted anywhere except on your machine in a bunch of files and an SQL like database honestly it's transformational but the the thing about it has been that it's been hard to to create websites that are what you want you know you just spin up a website and it's a vanilla version of website but you want to go a little bit further so this idea of blueprints has come along where you can uh create different kinds of Wordpress websites with things pre-installed but that of course has technical um difficulties associated with it and so this was mentioned in that call and it's brilliant so it's the WordPress playground step library and basically you go down the left and you pick the things that you want the website to have so for example let's say that we want to create a playground library and have it on our computer but we want to install a plugin and let's go for the example of woo Commerce brilliant and we want to install a theme you could obviously type in the the the string for that but let's go for I don't know uh link folio which is a theme let's add some media while we're at it and you can upload the media We'll add a couple of posts and a couple of pages you get the idea and you go through this clickpoint interface and then you create your playground website and I know that maybe isn't something that you're excited about but I just thought this was a really cool way of people getting started and you can save these but also just for the developers out there here's here's the output code that it's going to do to create that website and then kind of linked to that is the sandbox site power uh powered by playground and I'll just read this because it's hard to encapsulate with this plugin so this is a plugin uh create a copy of your site in a private playground instance just like we've been saying test plugins from the WordPress directory without installing them on your site your site is cloned in playground so if you've got a WordPress website you install this it'll create a clone of that website on your machine which you can then play with nothing is uploaded to any cloud service or anything like that and uh the data from your website is put directly into your browser and you'll be the only person that can use it so honestly I know that's a bit geeky but I just think this is super cool what's going on with playground and I I kind of feel that we haven't yet imagined what's possible but anyway there you go I apologies if that was a bit uninteresting but I thought that was absolutely fascinating um and I shall now go and spit some water I suppose the Clone in the website thing is just like give it to a client here you can't break this yeah go play yeah but also that whole this is lean in I'll just make that go away because it's hard to look at that thing isn't it um the the idea of being able to migrate websites in this way so rather than having to use some sort of third-party I don't know cloud-based service or a plugin you could just ship the website into playground go to a different web host and just upload the playground version It's just sitting in the and I know that sounds like Frau with risk and probably it has but you can keep the old one going anyway the migration thing is interesting also so that's WordPress to WordPress but the the stuff which is being built is kind of like you know Squarespace to Wordpress druple to Wordpress and and various other things where I move my hands from left to right like that um so I just think this is quite exciting and uh yeah there you go I don't think anybody's got anything to add to that have they I am the only one that's excited by that me and Adam zalinsky come on Adam okay there you go um white screen what's that one about uh do we want to anybody want to do this we're kind of running out of time so I think I'll skip a few I'll let's skip it yeah yeah we'll skip that one okay couple of things I'll just mention this this is stepping away from WordPress um this one uh if you're an if you're a Google's Android phone user you might think that your OS of choice on your phone is kind of Untouchable it's going to always rival the Apple ecosystem well Huawei I think that's how you pronounce it have other ideas uh I think they're either the second or third biggest mobile phone manufacturer on Earth they're certainly a giant and um they've decided that in the year 2025 they're going to stop using uh Google's Android and they're going to ship with their own uh OS and I've actually forgotten the name of it but that's really not the point Harmony there you go it's in the image Harmony OS uh it's kind of I'm an Android User in this sort of stuff kind makes me a bit nervous because I think if a big OEM like Huawei stopped using Android and then I don't know Samsung or the next and all these other manufacturers jump it kind of feels like that whole ecosystem of fragment and I feel that it's got to have that I don't know it's got to have that massive customer base for it to to succeed don't know if you've got any thoughts on that I know it's not word pressy but there we go I've seen lots of uh companies in in one way or another like they try to create because it's all about the marketplace it's all about the apps right like a phone's a phone great but most of us don't care like we were we take that for granted at least that a phone is a phone and you can send texts and maybe there's a calculator you know and it used to have snake which was awesome I miss snake but um you know but it's like they're they're hoping they're betting that either so either they're support they have to support Android apps already though how they tie into a Marketplace I have no idea um or they're they're betting that every developer who already has to build an app for IOS and Android is now going to build it for the harmony OS that's a huge gamble good point yeah that maybe the inverse of that my brain says is there's also the rest of the world which like Asia has huge marketplaces that I have I as a American have no concept of and I've been told about these whole other ecosystems so maybe it exists I have a clue but from where I'm sitting that to me would be the risk that they're taking but maybe I'm not their customer yeah maybe it'll maybe it'll tank I hadn't really thought about that I just always feel that when some OEM moves as giant as they are they kind of have the momentum and the you know the trajectory to take people with them but you're right if they don't bring the developers along uh and there's a they don't have the apps that they don't have the apps you're never going to buy their phone are maybe it'll be commercial suicide and they'll be back actually thinking about it I think companies like Nokia tried this out didn't they they had a thing called tyen for a while which was a complete failure and then they they ended up on um back on Android so yeah maybe there's maybe that's maybe that's a non story so many companies big and small get get too big for their bres or try to do this kind of grab right they're like these PE yeah like you said every we have all these C these loyal customers they will go with us and that just sounds like a boardroom decision to me yeah because people generally don't changing anything is hard my getting people to change the tech that they use is hard yeah okay okay all right just a hat tip to Carrie Dills uh Carrie Dills longtime um member of the WordPress community and she has got a LinkedIn learning course here it is I'll just mention it if we were talking about grid earlier uh car's taken on the job of educating people in all sorts of different things but grid is the latest thing uh CSS Advanced layouts with grid I I haven't sat the course but um here it is it's eight um sorry 2 hours and 28 minutes it's an advanced thing it came out a couple of weeks ago but uh if you're trying to Wrangle your head around grid and you don't want to use something like Advanced columns here it is it is called CSS Advanced layouts with grid and I will put the link into the sh notes she actually also came out with CSS for developers so she hases there right yeah let me just go back to that screen was that linked anywhere I wonder if it is I haven't let's see I'll put that up in a minute Michelle when you sent me the link that's great thank you um and happy birthday to JavaScript uh it's some like it's quite old now it's basically older than I am it's not older than I am um but the it's happy birthday it's like 29 years or something like that and uh yeah December the 4th it happened the other day December the 4th 20 1995 check out some of these names Netscape Communications Corporation and Sun Micro Systems today announced JavaScript an open-source cross plat crossplatform object scripting language for the creation and custom who would have thought back then that JavaScript would basically take over the web so happy birthday JavaScript I know you don't have ears or in any way shape or form the cognition to understand that sentence but nevertheless happy birthday I don't know there's some pretty Advanced uh that's right yeah it's listening so talk about being old or being called Old I remember this announcement oh really wow okay I remember I mean I don't think I don't think I read this but I remember that was right when I was learning how to build websites and so I remember hearing people talking about online you know like oh there's this new programming language that you can D du and so thanks for that yep I'm in in a in a way it's kind of interesting because look at this like how Tech Moves In addition 28 industry leading companies including here we go America online right okay uh Apple oh all right architect software attachmate corporation uh Borland International Brio technology digital Equipment Corporation iconx Corporation industrial so all these leading companies that have hooked themselves onto the bandwagon of JavaScript all of them still all of them still around but happy birthday JavaScript there you go and uh last one from me and then we'll move on to a couple of uh ones submitted um you can now get a free domain if you register with gravitar they're giving away a Year's free domain so that you can use it as your blue sky handle that's the thing you can do with blue sky you can make a domain name with a text record added to the DNS your handle so Nathan wrigley.com is what I've used and I've seen other people in the WordPress space using their own you know do Com or whatever and um gravitar are giving away a free free domain so if you want to make use of that and get some new domain I'm guessing you'll be locked into some paying system thereafter but for for a year you get it for free and then we'll move over to this what is this Sam this is something that has happened for the past 14 years now so um a little bit of context on is the jingle jam runs it used to run for the entire month of December but it now runs for two the first two weeks of December and basically it's done by a company called the ogs cast and if you're not a gamer you won't know who the hell they are but basically they are a conglomerate of different Gamers that do Twitch streaming and YouTube and all of that good stuff um that we've been watching for 15 16 years now um and basically what they do every December is they do charity game drives and it's they've got six Charities that they um they support and give the money to it goes everything goes directly to the Charities they don't take anything out of this all of their creators give up their time to stream games or do challenges um there's one of the creators that's um currently doing a sky sky rimon so he is trying to match the amount of money in game to the amount donated which you can see up in the corner um gosh basically yeah 1.9 million pounds wow that's amazing they're doing fantastic um but you can when you donate if you donate £35 or more you get a collection of games as well so all the game developers um donate effectively game keys to this charity so that they can raise the money so you get people that like donate a couple of pounds every year or people I think the biggest donation that I saw this year was £10,000 so people really put their money into this but it's such a lovely cause and they have such lovely streams and I think last night was poker night for them and they do full streaming schedules as well but it's just it's just a lovely little cause that we've we've just been following for like the past 14 years and that I've basically grown up with these people yeah which is really weird but yeah it's just such a nice little cause gosh the amount of money is eyering isn't it as well so it's very successful jingle they based down in Bristol as well nice okay Jing oh it's just moved up a little bit some money just got donated um 1. n47 million pounds at the moment and you can find it at jingle jam. co.uk I'll just and it's gone up against somebody just donated $800 800 quid wow um and then what's this one quick oh this one I came across the other day actually um um This was um so I love gaming and this was uh this is if you can check how if you can actually play it's like accessibility for gaming so one of the games that I've played recently was balers Gate 3 and they're like it's a mouse controll game it has um some flashing effects it has a lot of text base there's a lot of open World um it's got keyboard input it it just actually shows you how access accessible the game is itself for people that have disabilities or have limited movement or and it just basically goes through every single game possible and just says this is how accessible it is for people with x amount of of of interactivity problems love so it's like accessibility for games rather than websites that is cool that is really interesting honestly I hadn't even thought about that as a thing um wow okay so this is can I playay that.com yeah and uh wow that's like I'm so obsessed about the OBS the accessibility stuff on the WordPress side hadn't even thought about the online gaming side yeah uh you've got a big fan you probably knew this already uh Tim says I like Sam being on they should be on more who else would bring spiffing Brit and high this week in WordPress yeah there you go um well having said that uh somebody else that we've you know got on this week is uh is this chap here now unfortunately we're not going to be able to get the sound of this there's no way the platform can consume the sound but let's just shall we just watch [Laughter] cor that's so good oh laugh Cory is well done he's been practicing he has hasn't he yeah look all right I'll put you out your misery Cory I'll pause it there you got to end you are such a good sport Cory Michelle did you put that together I may have you may have this is such a good website like at this time of year jibjab.com you can go there and I believe for free you get a certain limit to the number of things that you can do but you can go and upload the face of Corey M that's it you're exercise done for the day you are such a laugh Corey thank you for doing that I appreciate that um you can also upload yourself into Santa and you know reindeer and all of that kind of stuff so jibjab.com at Christmas time that was fun that was fun what a great way to end and I did miss that final link does it matter um Michelle do I need to paste that in what was it no it's fine I put it I put it in the I put it I'll put it into the show notes um as well as the the original one but that's it we've over we've gone over I do apologize um there's a couple more comments about gaming but um you know I think this episode really was all about spitting liquid uh gaming is in the background so it was all about York and spitting liquid okay sorry uh Sam and Corey Michelle knows what's ah he's holding it okay we do this we got to do this hand thing if we all just do a bit of that give us yes that's nice there we go perfect um we'll be back next week first of all thank you Michelle Cory's gone oh no he's back um oh oh look at him he's just nailing it in every respect he's got a dog on the show now this is perfect oh I can do that thank you to no wait oh look there's Willow there's Willow Willow's chilling out by the radiator that's nice full drugs that's the right Willow is on a pillow yeah um thank you Sam thank you Corey for joining us we'll share this out tomorrow but really appreciate it I'll send you a link to there'll be a 10-c or so video if you want to hang out and have a chat whil after we've ended the show that would be great but uh I'll end it now and say a big thank you to you three but also thank you to anybody who made a comment really appreciate it see you next week take it easy bye bye bye, This Week in WordPress #318, WP Builds, 01jergz5fc6h230kv9173mtcff.