'Erasing Jonathan’s face' - This Week in WordPress #356

'Erasing Jonathan’s face' - This Week in WordPress #356 🔗 **Source:** ['Erasing Jonathan’s face' - This Week in WordPress #356](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: [wordpress, wordpress-6-9, community, performance, accessibility] > author: Nathan Wrigley > source: WP Builds > reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY > date created: 2024-11-25 12:00 > > # 🏷️ Title: 'Erasing Jonathan's face' - This Week in WordPress #356 >  ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Review WordPress 6.9 source of truth documentation — comprehensive release overview #wordpress-6-9 - [H2] Test new block notes feature for collaboration — phase three Gutenberg functionality #collaboration - [H3] Explore new blocks (accordion, time to read, math, term query) — content creation enhancements #blocks ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ 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](#-darvo-analysis) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - [WordPress 6.9 Source of Truth](https://gutenbergtimes.com) - [Performance Field Guide](https://westonruter.github.io) ## 📝 Summary - WordPress 6.9 represents the largest release in recent memory with extensive performance, accessibility, and feature improvements - The community mourns the passing of Zeal Thakar, a 24-year-old WordPress contributor who died while speaking at WordCamp - New blocks include accordion, time to read, math, and term query blocks, plus stretchy text functionality - Performance team delivered 40+ improvements including script loading optimizations and on-demand block styles - Accessibility improvements include 33 core fixes and 44 Gutenberg enhancements - Block notes feature introduces Google Docs-style collaboration capabilities ## 📖 Main Content WordPress 6.9 is positioned as a landmark release following an extended development cycle. The episode covers the tragic loss of Zeal Thakar, a young community contributor, before diving into comprehensive coverage of 6.9's features. Key improvements span performance optimization, accessibility enhancements, and new collaborative features. The performance team has delivered significant loading improvements, while the accessibility team has addressed numerous core issues. New blocks expand content creation possibilities, and the block notes feature represents WordPress's first step toward real-time collaboration. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY&t=0) — Introduction and Panel Introductions - Key idea: Episode 356 focuses on WordPress 6.9 as the biggest release in recent memory - Evidence: "This feels like one of the bigger weeks in WordPress in terms of what core is bringing out" #### ⏱️ [00:05:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY&t=323) — Mourning Zeal Thakar - Key idea: Community grieves loss of 24-year-old WordPress contributor who died while presenting - Evidence: "She passed away in the community that she loved and was very active in" #### ⏱️ [00:12:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY&t=765) — WordPress 6.9 Source of Truth Overview - Key idea: Birgit Pauli-Haack created comprehensive documentation covering all 6.9 changes - Evidence: "Look how tiny the scroll bar is on the right hand side. That kind of shows it, doesn't it? It's massive" #### ⏱️ [00:18:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY&t=1110) — New Blocks in WordPress 6.9 - Key idea: Four major new blocks enhance content creation capabilities - Evidence: "The accordion block for your FAQs. The time to read is really helpful" #### ⏱️ [00:22:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY&t=1335) — Stretchy Text Feature - Key idea: New text variation automatically fills available container space - Evidence: "It actually does that when you type it in and you transform it into stretchy text" #### ⏱️ [00:26:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY&t=1600) — Command Palette Expansion - Key idea: Command palette now works across entire WordPress admin, not just editors - Evidence: "Now I don't have to go through the whole menu to actually get to the page" #### ⏱️ [00:30:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY&t=1820) — Custom Social Icons - Key idea: Developers can now create custom social media icons beyond core set - Evidence: "I added multiple podcast directory icons so I can compare them to that" #### ⏱️ [00:33:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY&t=2025) — Video Block Subtitle Improvements - Key idea: Multiple subtitle tracks support multilingual accessibility - Evidence: "You can have a Korean track, you can have an English track, a German track" #### ⏱️ [00:37:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY&t=2230) — Performance Improvements Overview - Key idea: Performance team delivered extensive frontend loading optimizations - Evidence: "Scripts with fetch priority, increased inline CSS, minified theme styles" #### ⏱️ [00:42:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY&t=2550) — Time to Read Accessibility Discussion - Key idea: Community debates accuracy and accessibility of time-to-read estimates - Evidence: "Time to read is kind of BS. So much impacts it abilities but also from styles" #### ⏱️ [00:48:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY&t=2895) — Performance Team Achievements - Key idea: Second major release of 2025 includes numerous frontend performance improvements - Evidence: "For as long as there are developers adding new features, there will always be other developers improving performance" #### ⏱️ [00:52:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY&t=3160) — Accessibility Improvements - Key idea: WordPress 6.9 includes 33 core accessibility fixes and 44 Gutenberg improvements - Evidence: "Complete update of CSS generated content to ensure no excess content is spoken" #### ⏱️ [00:56:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY&t=3380) — Block Notes Feature Introduction - Key idea: New collaboration feature enables Google Docs-style commenting on blocks - Evidence: "Phase three of the Gutenberg project and the intention is Google Docs style collaboration" #### ⏱️ [01:02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY&t=3735) — Block Notes Implementation Details - Key idea: Notes system uses permission-based commenting with threaded replies - Evidence: "Any author can leave notes on their own but every editor can leave notes on every author's post" ## 📚 References - [WordPress 6.9 Source of Truth](https://gutenbergtimes.com) - [Performance Field Guide by Weston Ruter](https://westonruter.github.io) - [WordCamp Asia 2026 - Zeal Thakar Memorial](https://asia.wordcamp.org/2026/) - [WP Builds Black Friday Deals](https://wpbuilds.com/black) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - WordPress 6.9 represents the most significant release in recent memory with extensive performance optimizations, accessibility improvements, and new collaborative features following an extended development cycle - The WordPress community mourns the tragic loss of Zeal Thakar, a dedicated 24-year-old contributor who passed away while presenting at a WordCamp event - New content creation tools include accordion, time-to-read, math, and term query blocks, plus stretchy text functionality that automatically fills available space ## 📰 Newsletter WordPress 6.9 is landing with the biggest feature set we've seen in ages! 🚀 The extended development cycle has allowed teams to pack in incredible improvements. Performance enthusiasts will love the script loading optimizations and on-demand block styles. Content creators get four new blocks including accordion and time-to-read functionality. The accessibility team delivered 77 total improvements across core and Gutenberg. Most exciting is the new block notes feature - WordPress's first step toward Google Docs-style collaboration! You can now leave threaded comments on specific blocks, assign them to team members, and mark them complete. On a somber note, we remember Zeal Thakar, a 24-year-old WordPress contributor who passed away while speaking at WordCamp. Her passion for empowering others through WordPress touched countless lives. Resources: [WordPress 6.9 Guide](https://gutenbergtimes.com), [Performance Field Guide](https://westonruter.github.io), [Accessibility Improvements](https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility) ## ✅ Action Items #### WordPress - Core: Test WordPress 6.9 release candidate on staging environments - Performance: Monitor frontend loading improvements and measure impact - Accessibility: Review 77 accessibility fixes for compliance improvements - Community: Document Zeal Thakar's contributions for wordpress.org/members - Training: Create learning materials for new blocks and features - Documentation: Update user guides for command palette expansion #### Community - Maintainers: Prepare plugin compatibility testing for 6.9 release - Contributors: Test block notes feature for collaboration workflows - Sponsors: Support accessibility and performance team initiatives - Ecosystem: Share knowledge about new custom social icons capability #### DevRel - Developer advocacy: Create demos showcasing new collaboration features - Education: Develop workshops on performance optimization techniques - Developer experience: Document new theme.json form styling capabilities - Community management: Facilitate discussions on accessibility improvements ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Block notes feature will significantly improve editorial workflows for multi-author sites - Performance improvements will measurably reduce page load times across WordPress sites - Custom social icons will drive plugin ecosystem innovation - Extended development cycles produce higher quality, more comprehensive releases ### 📊 Methodology - A/B testing of page load times before and after 6.9 deployment - User experience research on block notes adoption in editorial workflows - Survey of developer adoption rates for new theme.json capabilities ### ❓ Questions - Will the block notes feature scale effectively for high-volume editorial teams? - How will performance improvements impact sites with heavy plugin usage? - Can WordPress maintain this level of feature development in regular release cycles? ### 🔮 Future Research - Real-time collaboration infrastructure requirements for WordPress - Performance optimization opportunities in plugin ecosystem - Accessibility compliance measurement across WordPress ecosystem ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Editorial teams need training on collaboration features and new blocks - Policy: Accessibility improvements support regulatory compliance requirements - Security: Performance optimizations may affect security plugin functionality - Education: Comprehensive documentation needed for 77 accessibility changes - Funding: Performance and accessibility teams require sustained investment ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 12th grade #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Code examples, interface screenshots, block diagrams - Improve: Video demonstrations of new features, visual performance comparisons #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Podcast format with detailed discussions - Improve: Audio summaries of major feature categories #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Technical terminology explanations, feature analogies - Improve: Glossary of WordPress-specific terms, comparison frameworks #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Live demonstration environment references - Improve: Hands-on testing checklists, interactive feature trials #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Structured feature categorization, performance metrics - Improve: Decision trees for feature adoption, impact measurement frameworks #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Panel discussion format, community contributor recognition - Improve: Collaborative testing opportunities, peer review processes #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Comprehensive written documentation, individual exploration paths - Improve: Self-paced learning modules, personal testing environments #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: Community ecosystem discussions, organic development processes - Improve: WordPress ecosystem impact analysis, sustainability considerations ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Discussion of CSS content improvements, proper semantics emphasis - Improve: Detailed ARIA implementation examples, semantic HTML demonstrations #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Focus management improvements mentioned - Improve: Keyboard shortcut documentation, navigation flow examples #### Contrast and readability - Present: Visual design improvements discussed - Improve: Color contrast testing examples, readability guidelines #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: Responsive design considerations mentioned - Improve: Zoom testing protocols, reflow validation methods #### Media and captions - Present: Video subtitle track improvements detailed - Improve: Caption quality standards, multilingual accessibility guides #### Forms and interactions - Present: Form element styling in theme.json discussed - Improve: Accessible form validation examples, interaction patterns #### Standards reference - Maps to WCAG 2.2 AA compliance requirements for content management systems ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: International community contributor recognition, multilingual subtitle support - Improve: Global accessibility standards alignment, diverse use case examples #### Inclusive language - Present: Professional terminology, community-focused discussions - Improve: Plain language summaries, non-technical explanations #### Neurodiversity support - Present: Structured content organization, clear feature categorization - Improve: Cognitive load considerations, processing time accommodations #### Representation - Present: Diverse panel participants, global community acknowledgment - Improve: Varied contributor backgrounds, inclusive imagery suggestions #### Psychological safety - Present: Respectful memorial discussion, supportive community tone - Improve: Content warnings for difficult topics, inclusive participation guidelines ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: WordPress 6.9 improvements logically follow from extended development cycle - Inductive strength: Performance team track record supports continued optimization success - Causal reasoning: Feature complexity directly correlates with development time requirements - Analogical strength: Block notes compared effectively to Google Docs collaboration #### Fallacies - Appeal to novelty: Assuming newer features are automatically better without usage data - Hasty generalization: Extrapolating single contributor impact to entire community health #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: Professional yet conversational, respectful during memorial discussion, enthusiastic about technical improvements ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: No denial patterns observed - Attack: No attack patterns identified - Reverse victim/offender: No reversal rhetoric present - Emotional cues and rhetoric: Appropriate grief processing, genuine technical enthusiasm ## 🎯 Conclusion WordPress 6.9 represents a watershed moment combining extensive technical improvements with community reflection. The performance and accessibility enhancements demonstrate WordPress's continued evolution, while the block notes feature signals the project's collaborative future. The community's response to losing Zeal Thakar shows the human connections that drive open source development. Organizations should prioritize testing these features and training teams on the new collaboration capabilities. ## 🧱 Refactor Appendix ### 📚 Literature Split Pad Purpose: Stage CEE units that become Literature notes. Split level: H3 ### [H1] WordPress 6.9 delivers comprehensive performance optimization > [!quote] This Week in WordPress #356 by Nathan Wrigley via WP Builds. Published 2024-11-24. Accessed 2024-11-25. > "Scripts with fetch --- ## Full Transcript [00:04] It's time for This Week in WordPress [00:06] episode number 356 [00:09] entitled Erasing Jonathan's Face. It was [00:12] recorded on Monday the 24th of November [00:16] 2025. My name is Nathan Wrigley and [00:18] today I'm joined by Beet Powley Hack, by [00:20] Taco Donsshot, and by Jonathan Bosinger [00:24] whose face we erase many many times. We [00:26] start the podcast on a sad note, marking [00:29] the passing of a dedicated WordPress [00:32] contributor. So, we spend a few sad [00:34] moments talking about that and then we [00:36] get into WordPress 6.9 and the vast [00:38] majority of the episode is talking about [00:41] what's coming in WordPress 6.9, all of [00:44] the different pieces in terms of [00:45] accessibility, all of the different bits [00:47] and pieces in terms of performance. [00:50] There's loads of content helping you [00:51] through this phase, but also there are [00:54] some live events that we talk about, one [00:55] of which Jonathan is organizing about [00:58] what it is that you can do to get [00:59] yourself aligned, getting ready for the [01:02] new upcoming update. And then we get [01:04] into a few different bits and pieces [01:06] around the community. We talk about the [01:08] fact that Jetack has got a new person at [01:11] the helm. I did a podcast about that. [01:13] There's a whole bunch of new blocks, [01:15] block suites, which have launched over [01:17] the last few weeks as well. So, there's [01:20] absolutely loads in this episode and I [01:23] really hope that you enjoy it. This [01:26] episode of the WP Builds podcast is [01:28] brought to you by GoDaddy Pro, the home [01:31] of manage WordPress hosting that [01:33] includes free domain, SSL, and 247 [01:36] support. Bundle that with the hub by [01:39] GoDaddy Pro to unlock more free benefits [01:42] to manage multiple sites in one place. [01:45] Invoice clients and get 30% off new [01:48] purchases. Find out more at [01:51] go.me/wpuilds. [01:56] Hello, hello, hello, hello. I just did a [01:58] really satisfying stretch. I don't know [02:01] if anybody else was stretching whilst [02:03] the uh past the music was on. It was [02:05] very enjoyable. Uh we are on episode [02:08] number 356 [02:10] of this week in WordPress. As you can [02:12] see I am joined by a really nice panel [02:14] of people. We've got well everybody is a [02:16] is a returning visitor and I have to say [02:18] that I'm very glad. This feels like uh [02:21] one of the one of the bigger weeks in [02:23] WordPress in terms of you know what core [02:25] is bringing out and the you know people [02:26] getting aligned and learning what 6.9 [02:29] has to bring in more so than ever before [02:31] just because of the length of time it [02:33] has been since the last update which is [02:35] you know in an unusual cycle at the [02:37] moment. Anyway, we will get into that in [02:39] a moment. The uh the first thing that I [02:41] need to do though is just sort of go [02:42] around the houses and um say hello to [02:44] everybody. So let's go let's go let's go [02:47] there first which is bigot bigot pow [02:49] hack. Yeah, thank you, Taco. That's Oh, [02:51] look. Everybody's a pro. Um, how you [02:53] doing, Big It? [02:54] >> I'm very well. Thank you very much for [02:56] having me. Yes, [02:56] >> you're so You're so welcome. I am really [02:59] glad to have you back. I'm going to read [03:00] Big. It's uh Oh, I've already spotted [03:02] that T taco looks like he's written me a [03:04] poem. Okay, we'll get to that. Um, Big's [03:07] bio reads as follows. Bigot is the [03:09] creator of Gutenberg Times. We will see [03:12] that. Uh, site with news around the [03:14] WordPress block editor and beyond. She [03:16] is the host of a podcast uh sorry of the [03:19] podcast Gutenberg Change Log which [03:22] discusses what's new in Gutenberg and [03:24] more with special guests. She's been [03:26] contributing to the WordPress open [03:27] source project since 2014. And in 2021 [03:30] she closed her web agency after 20 years [03:33] and now works as a developer advocate [03:36] for Automatic. Very nice. Thank you for [03:38] joining us. Really appreciate it. And uh [03:42] down there there's um there's T [03:45] Jonathan. It's so easy to get that [03:47] wrong. Yes, if you just point in any [03:50] direction, you one of them will be [03:51] wrong. Uh it's Taco. Hello, Taco. [03:55] >> Hi. Nice to have you with us. Okay, so I [03:57] haven't read Taco's bio. It only just [04:00] came into my view. So, here we go. [04:01] >> This should be good. [04:02] >> Okay, here we go. Taco. So, this is what [04:04] he wrote. Taco brings ideas to life with [04:07] calm. Oh, it rhymes. Okay. Okay. All [04:09] right. So I've got to do it correctly. [04:11] Taco brings ideas to life with calm and [04:13] care. He builds in tech and finds new [04:15] paths everywhere. At home in vegan, he's [04:18] feel steady and bright. His family gives [04:20] him strength every day and every night. [04:23] I added a word in there. He follows this [04:25] week in WordPress to sh to stay sharp [04:27] and on track. W builds keeps him [04:30] updated. A secret life hack from [04:32] WordPress to Amelia. He follows his [04:35] drive. Cintclass smiles and says, "Your [04:38] spark keeps dreams alive." That's so [04:42] nice. [04:43] >> Yes. Yeah. Well, that had a that had a [04:45] flavor. [04:46] >> There is a reason for this. [04:47] >> Okay. [04:48] >> Um, we've just entered the center class [04:51] period, which is a Dutch holiday. [04:53] >> Yeah. [04:54] >> And one of the traditions connected to [04:57] it is that you write poems in rhyme. [05:00] >> Oh. [05:01] >> So, I figured for each other. Um, so I [05:04] figured I would do one for this occasion [05:07] as well. [05:08] >> Well, you're I'm Thank you very Yeah, [05:10] exactly. Can I just ask is center class [05:13] would that map to kind of like advent is [05:15] it a thing which begins and then there's [05:16] a countdown and then it kind of ends at [05:18] some point or what what is that? [05:20] >> It's like Dutch Santa Claus. [05:23] >> Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. But it's a but [05:25] it's in the calendar. [05:27] >> Yeah, it's December 5th. [05:30] >> Okay. Okay. So interesting. There you [05:32] go. [05:33] couple weeks leading up to it um for the [05:36] kids. So, it's specifically a kid kids [05:39] holiday. [05:40] >> Well, I'm not going to say anything [05:41] about Santa Claus just in case there [05:43] happens to be somebody watching and [05:44] there's, you know, children around. [05:46] >> Oh, Santa Claus comes to Germany on [05:48] December 6th. [05:49] >> Oh, okay. Okay. [05:51] >> Two countries in one day. Can you [05:53] >> Yeah. 25th of December uh in my neck of [05:56] the woods and down a chimney uh as well. [05:59] So, uh, you know, he's got all sorts of [06:01] different techniques by the looks of it. [06:02] And over here, the last one joining us [06:04] on the uh over there. Oh, look. [06:07] Everybody's a pro. Um, is Jonathan [06:09] Bosinger. Hello, Jonathan. [06:10] >> Hello. [06:11] >> I've got to say I'm very grateful [06:13] particularly to Jonathan because we were [06:14] supposed to have Seth Goldstein uh [06:16] joining us today. He unfortunately um is [06:19] unwell and so Jonathan stepped in at the [06:22] very last moment. So, I'm very [06:23] appreciative of that. I'm really really [06:25] happy to have you with us. But, uh get [06:27] well soon, Seth. I hope all things are, [06:29] you know, on on the mend. So, here's [06:31] Jonathan's bio. Jonathan is a developer, [06:34] educator, writer, and open source [06:35] advocate from Cape Town, South Africa. [06:37] After a 20-year career in software [06:40] development, he found his calling in [06:41] developer relations in 2020 and hasn't [06:44] looked back. Jonathan is passionate [06:46] about supporting developer communities, [06:47] building awesome developer tooling, and [06:49] creating engaging educational content [06:52] for developers. and we will be featuring [06:54] something that Jonathan has put together [06:56] during the course of this week. So that [06:59] is our little panel. Thank you from me [07:01] to all of you. Really appreciate it. We [07:04] uh we of course have like the comment [07:05] thing going and the show is kind of [07:07] boyed along very much so by the [07:09] comments. So if you wish to to add your [07:11] comments and you know if it's word [07:13] pressing I think we've yet to have like [07:15] a comment. Oh, as soon as I say this I'm [07:18] going to regret it. I don't I I don't [07:20] think we've yet had a comment which was [07:22] like on un on unput on the screenable if [07:24] you know what I mean. Everybody that [07:26] seems to watch the show seems to have, [07:27] you know, the right ethics about it, [07:29] like propelling the show forward and [07:31] thinking about nice things to say. So [07:33] keep it like that. We'd appreciate it. [07:35] The only weird thing is whenever a [07:36] comment comes in from Twitch, the Twitch [07:38] platform, it's always just totally off [07:40] message. Just clearly Steve B that loves [07:43] gaming or something like that and just [07:45] has hijacked our thread. But if you want [07:47] to um make use of comments, there's a [07:50] couple of probably the the easiest way [07:51] to do it is to go here. So Taco is [07:55] currently sporting the look what a pro. [07:58] wpbuilds.comlive. [08:00] If you head over there and you are on a [08:02] desktop, then the the embedded YouTube [08:04] comments are on the on the right of the [08:07] video below the video on a mobile [08:09] device. But if you don't want to be [08:11] logged into a Google account, that's [08:13] fine. There's a little box inside the [08:15] video itself which says live chat top [08:17] right I think it's a black button and [08:19] you don't have to be logged into [08:20] anything and none of that data is kept. [08:22] It just comes in as a comment and your [08:23] account is there is no account. You [08:25] don't create an account. It's just live [08:26] during the the course of this. So [08:28] anybody that wants to make a comment [08:30] please do. And here are some here are [08:31] some comments that people have made. Uh [08:33] Courtney Courtney joining us. I'm [08:35] guessing that's a cup of coffee or [08:37] something just sort of illustrating [08:38] that. Uh [08:39] >> cheers Courtney. [08:40] >> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. [08:41] >> Cheers. on the water. Never mind. Um, [08:45] and then gets a reply from Philly [08:47] Codehound. Hello. Oh, I think that might [08:50] be Seth. I'm not sure if it's you, Seth. [08:52] Get well soon. I hope that you're doing [08:54] all right. That is [08:56] >> a a thank you for joining us in the [08:58] comments. That's absolutely lovely. Uh, [09:00] Reese W is joining us saying, "Good [09:02] afternoon from a Chile Newton Lillows. [09:04] The local shop had Easter Easter eggs." [09:08] What? like did you go back in time [09:12] today? What happened there? You're way [09:14] off. Uh D so fond says code. Well, [09:18] that's Seth we now know. So, thank you [09:20] very much. And I think there might be a [09:22] bunch of comments just sort of going [09:23] backwards and forwards amongst the [09:24] various people. No. Oh, here we go. No [09:27] comments that are on honorable on [09:29] screen. Challenge accent. [09:32] >> Oh, Marcus, don't do it. Don't give into [09:34] that. [09:35] >> We know you began. Yeah, we know where [09:37] you Well, we don't know where you live. [09:39] Um, it's in Florida, but do you remember [09:41] Tom and Jerry cartoons? I don't know if [09:42] you watched those when you were a kid, [09:43] but Tom and Jerry very often they would [09:45] have this like devil on the shoulder and [09:47] on the other side would be the angel. Go [09:50] with the angel, Marcus. [09:52] >> Don't Don't give in to the devil. [09:55] >> Out of context, that sounds like a [09:58] really nasty wish to wish, you know, [10:00] with the angel. [10:01] >> It does. It does. Yeah. Uh, he says he's [10:04] grateful to us all for the show. Uh if [10:05] there's any that pop up, I will bring [10:08] those on in a moment. Uh but whoever [10:10] code of joy joy of code is, they're [10:13] they're taking they're taking a few [10:14] moments to go and do the laundry. [10:16] >> Oh, is it? Oh, of course it is. Joy of [10:18] WP, I see it there now in [10:20] >> he's going to go and do laundry. We'll [10:22] see you in a bit, Bob. Yeah, nice. Nice [10:24] to have you with us. Right, let me get [10:25] rid of those bits and pieces off the [10:27] screen and we'll get stuck into what it [10:29] is that we're trying to do today. Yeah, [10:30] thank you. [10:31] >> Um right, so this is us wpbuilds.com. If [10:35] you fancy keeping update with what we [10:36] do, just stick your email address in [10:38] this field and uh you'll receive two [10:40] emails. One when we push this out, we [10:42] repackage this uh for a podcast [10:45] audience. That's sort of why we do it. [10:47] It's for the podcast episode in the [10:49] morning. So you'll get an email alert [10:51] sort of early tomorrow morning to say [10:52] that it's come out and you can listen to [10:54] it in your car while you're doing the [10:56] vacuuming, whatever. And um so you'll [10:58] get that and then on a Thursday when we [10:59] put out a podcast episode, you will get [11:02] that as well. Sorry. Can I just I assume [11:04] you meant listening to in your car all [11:06] while you're doing the vacuuming. Not [11:09] >> Well, I suppose you could be vacuuming [11:11] the car. [11:13] >> We're not driving whilst vacuuming the [11:16] car. That's totally off piece. No, we're [11:18] not doing that. Um that was the on that [11:21] was the unputonable message whilst [11:23] vacuuming the car and driving. No. Um so [11:26] yeah, so put your email address in there [11:28] and we'll send you one when we do an [11:29] episode on a Thursday as well. you can [11:31] get to the the sort of archive of the [11:33] bits and pieces that we produce if you [11:35] click in the little archive thing here. [11:37] Then um then here we go. And you can see [11:39] that the most recent episode that I did [11:42] um was all about Checkout Summit. I [11:44] don't know if you've heard about this, [11:45] but next year in um in Sicily, I want to [11:49] say where is it? Is it Palmo? Ive I've [11:52] actually forgotten, but certainly it's [11:54] in a resort. So, if you're into Woo [11:56] Commerce or e-commerce more generally [11:58] and um and you'd like to hang out with [12:00] some like-minded people, go and check [12:02] out that episode. There is a a real [12:04] world event happening in what could only [12:06] be described as a resort. So, you could [12:08] definitely combine holiday making with [12:10] going to a WordPress or Woo Commerce [12:12] event. So, check that out and uh you can [12:15] find out more about that. And then we [12:18] have our Black Friday deals page. If you [12:20] go to wpbuilds.com/black, [12:23] uh we we got a few sponsored slots that [12:26] you can see at the top, but basically if [12:28] you start to scroll down, these are all [12:30] um listings that people have sent to me. [12:33] Um there's no affiliate links or [12:35] anything like that. Um but there's 300 [12:37] and something there at the minute. So [12:38] there's Yeah, there's there's absolutely [12:39] loads. It all goes a bit mental. Um, so [12:43] if you click this, [12:44] >> yeah, you're not going to be able to [12:45] cope with scrolling it because I [12:47] deliberately so that because in the [12:49] beginning when I put it out, I had it in [12:51] the order that they were submitted and I [12:52] thought, well, that's not fair. So now [12:54] every hour it randomizes and so so which [12:57] makes it fair, but equally it makes it [12:59] like really hard to figure out what's [13:01] going on. So So if you [13:04] >> like you're shopping in your favorite [13:05] store around [13:07] >> that's exactly what it's like. So, if [13:09] you go in here, click the little search [13:10] and filter thing. Um, and then you can [13:13] either search for a product name or the [13:15] the people who submitted them submitted [13:16] the categories that they felt it would, [13:18] you know, most represented. So, you can [13:20] go and do it in that way. And then also, [13:22] if you um if you would like to add your [13:24] own deal, it's totally free. Just you [13:26] just click that button, fill out a form, [13:28] and I'll stick it on, you know, as soon [13:29] as I get round to it, usually within an [13:31] hour or so. Um, and there's just loads. [13:34] And my my inbox is mental at the moment. [13:38] Not just because of these deals coming [13:40] in to go on this page, but I mean it [13:42] must be the same for you, right? Every [13:44] single thing of any description that [13:46] ever got hold of my email address is [13:49] currently emailing me. I'm getting [13:52] honestly since we started this show, [13:54] I've had 15 emails. 15 [13:58] >> emails in the last like eight minutes or [14:01] so. It's absolutely insane. So I I don't [14:03] know what to do. So, if you're in the [14:05] WordPress space and you fancy sort of [14:07] getting away from all that, I probably [14:09] have it here. Um, and it'll show you, [14:12] for example, you know, how much they [14:14] claim they're knocking off the price, [14:17] um, and what have you. So, you know, go [14:18] and have a look WP. [14:20] >> I saw a couple at 100%. So, [14:22] >> yeah. So, so the weird thing about that [14:24] is because of the way I set up the form [14:26] and I had to have a number in that [14:28] field, some things are like a it's like [14:31] free for a year and so I don't really [14:33] have a perfect way of encapsulating [14:35] that. So, yeah, you're right. There are [14:37] a couple which are a bit weird like [14:39] that, but I don't know how to sort of [14:41] define that otherwise. But mostly the [14:43] number the number works. So, you know, [14:45] there's loads of money to be had off and [14:47] I know lots of people do that. [14:49] I mean, we talked about this before the [14:51] show, but I can offer progress planner [14:53] at 100% discount. [14:54] >> Okay. [14:55] >> It's a free product. Yeah. Yeah. [14:58] >> Well, yeah, it is. Yeah. In the end, [15:00] you'll end up you'll end up paying [15:01] people to uh to have it. It's like, you [15:05] know, 100% off free. It's still free. [15:07] >> Uh so, go check that out. And uh yeah, [15:10] you know, that's quite nice. And this is [15:12] the interview that I did with Rulfo um [15:14] Milogi all about um the the summit which [15:18] is happening next year. So you can check [15:19] that out. Episode 446. Righty ho. Let's [15:22] get into the bits and pieces. Um anybody [15:25] want to talk about Black Friday before [15:26] we move on? Just you know in case they [15:29] do probably not. No. No. Okay. All [15:32] right. [15:33] >> Right then. So um I was going to lead in [15:36] a different way but quite rightly I was [15:39] um Taco requested that we could put this [15:41] item first. So I'm sort of going from [15:43] jovial and banter which I had in my you [15:46] know in my voice a moment ago to exactly [15:48] the opposite and I hope that I managed [15:50] to do that with the taste and decorum [15:52] which it requires. Um so this is a piece [15:55] there are several pieces around on the [15:56] internet at the moment but this is a [15:58] piece which taco has selected it's word [15:59] camp Asia 2026 website and um the piece [16:03] is entitled in loving memory of zeal [16:06] thakar now I confess I don't uh have any [16:10] experience of working with zeal or [16:12] meeting zeal in any way shape or form [16:15] but looking at the list of things which [16:17] um zeal had been up to in the more [16:19] recent past a real kind of titan in that [16:22] part of the world of the community. [16:24] Somebody that was really busting a gut [16:26] to to help drive the community forwards. [16:29] But um I don't know Taco if you want to [16:31] take it from here. Perhaps you've met [16:33] Zeal or know a little bit more about the [16:36] story. [16:38] >> Uh I uh was lucky enough to meet her at [16:41] work camp in 2023. Uh and then um [16:47] over the course of the the years after [16:51] online and at online events a couple of [16:54] times [16:56] um like you said uh a force for good [17:00] very active in the WordPress community [17:02] and uh at just 24 years old which is [17:09] part of the youth that we really want to [17:11] get into WordPress. Um, and it would [17:14] have been fantastic if we'd had her for [17:16] many more years in our community. [17:20] Uh, unfortunately, [17:22] uh, there was an an incident, uh, she [17:26] she was unwell while on stage talking [17:30] about Word Camp Asia, um, at a word camp [17:34] uh, word camp. [17:37] And [17:38] yeah, uh despite [17:41] uh more professors doing CPR and and [17:45] trying to save her life, that was [17:47] unfortunately [17:49] uh yeah, [17:51] >> that didn't happen. So, she passed away [17:55] in the in the community that she loved [17:57] and was very active in. [17:59] >> Yeah, I s there's no there's no nice way [18:02] of sharing this news, is there? there's [18:05] only sorrow really. But um [18:08] >> but um it's amazing that you know in [18:11] that short space of time, a very young [18:13] life that in that short space of time so [18:15] much had been achieved in a project that [18:17] was obviously very very meaningful to [18:20] her. Um and you know I guess I guess my [18:26] condolences would just go out to anybody [18:27] that knows her or is affected by this. [18:30] It's uh it's brutal and you know for it [18:32] to happen in such a in such a public way [18:35] as well is uh oh it's yeah hard to hard [18:39] to cope with. I don't know if anybody [18:41] else has anything to add to that. [18:45] No. Okay. In which case um unfortunately [18:49] life always as always has to move on. [18:52] And uh I hope you'll forgive us if at [18:54] some point we draw a line and become our [18:55] sort of entertaining selves and jocoul [18:58] selves again. But um yeah, like I said [19:00] to anybody that knew Zeal or indeed was [19:03] present at that moment when uh when [19:05] things occurred at word camp sur uh [19:09] commiserations and uh yeah there is at [19:12] least a testimony there. You know [19:14] something great was achieved in such a [19:16] short space of time. [19:17] >> Yeah. And I saw there was already um a [19:20] mention that she will be added to [19:22] wordpress.orgmbers /members [19:25] >> uh which is the page that lists uh those [19:30] in our community who've left us too [19:32] early. Maybe maybe a way to round this [19:35] off is if I just read the last few [19:37] paragraphs from the uh from the Word [19:39] Camp Asia piece. The link will be in the [19:41] show notes if you want to follow this [19:42] up, but it says it's entitled [19:44] Remembrance. The loss of someone so [19:46] bright, talented, and full of promise is [19:47] deeply painful. Her passion for learning [19:49] and her desire to help others realize [19:51] WordPress's potential defined her [19:53] contributions. She found fulfillment in [19:55] empowering others to explore what [19:57] WordPress offers and her collaborative [19:59] spirit touched countless lives. Zeal's [20:01] legacy will live on through the [20:03] community she's built, she built, and [20:05] the countless contributions she made to [20:07] WordPress. Our thoughts and prayers are [20:09] with Zeal's immediate family, friends, [20:12] and all who knew and loved her. And like [20:15] I said, there are various articles that [20:17] you can find online which say more or [20:19] less the same thing. But uh always very [20:21] painful when somebody in the community [20:23] which you thrive in uh passes away. So [20:26] okay. [20:28] >> Y [20:28] >> right. Okay. On that note we will move [20:31] on and I would imagine it would be uh [20:33] you know app propo to carry on as normal [20:36] uh if that's all right with everybody [20:37] else. So here's another piece which I'll [20:40] just mention. and the WordPress [20:41] foundation produced a piece uh you know [20:44] it's very similar however this not just [20:46] remembers zeal but it was a a piece [20:48] talking about the Kim Parcel memorial [20:51] scholarship which Zal was a recipient of [20:54] and it also goes on to mention Puja [20:56] Dashri but uh given what's happened this [20:59] week we will just leave it hanging there [21:02] okay so let's turn our attention to [21:05] something entirely different this time [21:07] WordPress 6.9 I feel like the rest of [21:10] this show is going to be basically [21:12] dominated by this the the upcoming [21:14] WordPress 6.9 release. In a normal cycle [21:18] of events, we would we maybe wouldn't [21:19] have quite as much drop in at this one [21:22] time because the period of time would be [21:24] smaller between uh the last release and [21:26] this major release. And so it's felt [21:28] like over the last couple of weeks lots [21:31] and lots has been ramping up. Lots of [21:32] lots of pieces have been written about [21:34] all of the different pieces that are [21:36] dropping in, whether that's from an [21:37] accessibility point of view, from a [21:38] performance point of view. And be it, [21:41] bless her, bless her life, decided to [21:44] write a book. Um, here it is. It's [21:47] called the WordPress 6.9 source of [21:49] truth. And I don't know if you can see, [21:51] can you see my scroll bar? You can. Uh, [21:53] look how tiny the scroll bar is on the [21:55] right hand side. That kind of shows it, [21:57] doesn't it? It's massive. Um, there's so [22:01] many things dropping and so in order to [22:03] make this more palatable for a show of [22:04] this length and and scope, I asked [22:07] Beerate just to sort of cherrypick some [22:09] of her favorite, well, favorites [22:11] probably the wrong word. Some of the [22:12] bits that were most most impactful or [22:14] most important to her. So, over to you. [22:17] >> Well, thank you. Yes. Um, yeah, there's [22:20] a lot of uh things to to go through. Uh, [22:23] and I actually picked my favorites and [22:25] uh I I really love that we have new [22:27] blocks coming to core uh especially the [22:30] accordion block and the time to read uh [22:33] block um as well as the math uh block [22:37] and the term query blog. They are all uh [22:40] new um and they actually enrich all the [22:44] things you want to do with a blog. Um [22:46] yeah, the accordion blog for your FAQs. [22:48] Um the time to read is to uh had some [22:51] major accessibility um overhaul. Uh so [22:55] it actually could go into core and it [22:58] has a time to read is really helpful but [23:00] the source of truth kind of stomped me a [23:02] bit because it's 22 to 33 minutes [23:07] in [23:09] >> uh and it has a [23:11] >> is that is that what this article is [23:12] when you put in the is that what it [23:14] said? [23:15] >> Yeah. [23:16] >> It's not it's way longer than that. [23:18] Especially [23:20] when you get to this picture and you [23:22] spend a bit of time thinking what does [23:24] that mean and if anybody's mass is up to [23:27] that but look at [23:28] >> I like that. Yeah. I'm really happy that [23:31] the math block is now really [23:33] >> Yeah. Yeah. [23:34] >> But that's just my my preference because [23:37] I I've uh had math in school quite a bit [23:40] and I wanted to actually be a math [23:42] teacher [23:43] >> but it turned out other ways. So I but [23:46] that's a different story. So um those [23:48] two things four things new blocks and [23:51] then there's this uh stretchy text [23:52] variation that comes in that had a um [23:56] went through a quite a bit different um [23:58] interface but it's uh how you can [24:01] transform your headline into a text that [24:03] fills up the full screen or the full [24:06] container that it's in. Honestly, about [24:09] it was about four weeks ago, we had [24:11] Steve Burge on this show and we were and [24:13] we got into this and none of us knew [24:14] what stretchy text was and so we were [24:17] imagining this sort of fairly elastic, [24:20] you know, text what we put inside. I [24:23] don't know, you could sort of pull it [24:24] out, but the the principle is just to [24:26] clear it up for everybody. The idea is [24:28] it occupi it occupies the full space [24:31] available. um which which I guess in [24:34] many scenarios is exactly what you may [24:37] need to deploy. You just want it to fill [24:38] up the available space and not look [24:40] justified left or right or what have [24:41] you. Okay. [24:42] >> Right. Or you want to have just a [24:44] different um yeah font um design in [24:47] there and then um and it actually does [24:49] that when you type it in um and you uh [24:52] transform it into stretchy text and type [24:54] further. It it actually um kind of goes [24:58] smaller smaller smaller smaller the [24:59] longer it becomes. Yeah. So, it's kind [25:01] of really interesting to see. Uh, but [25:04] it's also um totally responsive. So, if [25:07] uh that text is on a mobile, it's um [25:10] adjusting for that. Um so, it's um it's [25:13] a really nice design tool um to have it [25:16] u [25:17] >> it's available for paragraph as well as [25:19] for the heading block. Okay. And those [25:22] who have custom blocks that are tex [25:24] oriented, they can actually uh put it [25:27] into a support for the black JSON [25:30] >> and it's uh fit text equals true or [25:32] something like that. Yeah, I think I [25:34] have it in there. Yeah. So, it's a yeah [25:37] um more more things. Yeah. And I'm [25:40] absolutely in love with the command [25:42] pallet being anywhere because now I [25:45] don't have to it's the you do control K [25:48] and then a little um box comes up where [25:52] you can type a command or say um go to [25:55] site editor or add a block uh add a post [25:58] or um the go to settings. You don't have [26:01] to go through the whole menu to actually [26:03] get to the page and that's really um [26:06] streamlining my my content creation. So, [26:08] >> so I guess it's a bit like if you're a [26:10] Mac user then it's like spotlight um you [26:13] you hit a command and then but but but [26:15] in the past the command palette for [26:17] WordPress has been limited if I'm right [26:19] I I don't make heavy use of it to be [26:21] honest was it limited to like the post [26:22] and page editor and things you know [26:24] there was definitely the site editor as [26:27] well okay but now it's more or less [26:29] everywhere and it can certainly get you [26:31] around inside the admin as well so okay [26:33] that's [26:34] >> and uh yeah plugins can now uh add also [26:37] um commands to it. So, um if they are [26:39] not in a site editor, they could do that [26:41] before, but now those plugins that are [26:43] not um tied to the site editor can also [26:46] add commands to it. So, um you can um [26:49] yeah, people can get faster to the [26:52] things that they want to do. [26:53] >> Yeah. [26:53] >> Yep. Okay. Anything else on that list [26:56] again? [26:56] >> Um well, and then it's um all kind of [26:59] changes that are incremental, but um I [27:02] also like the custom social icons that [27:04] you can create. That's more for the [27:06] developer part, but it's something you [27:08] can as a site owner can ask a developer [27:10] to create you additional social icons um [27:14] that are for your uh yeah u case. So [27:20] social icons are the profiles for [27:22] YouTube or Twitter or blue sky. Those [27:26] are in core but you cannot have every [27:29] social uh network or any network just [27:32] put it in core. Yeah. So uh now what it [27:36] what the core developers did was opening [27:38] it up for extensions. So you can so I I [27:41] built a plugin where I added multiple [27:44] podcast directory icons so I can compare [27:47] them to that. that kind of yeah or um [27:51] Justin Padlock did a um did a tutorial [27:54] on the developer blog on how to do this [27:57] and he added Kofi and other payment [28:00] stuff or the uh movie database kind of [28:03] icons. So depending on what the site is [28:06] about yeah you can drill really down [28:09] into the um the social icons of your [28:12] space. [28:13] >> Nice. Very nice. Anything else? Yeah, [28:17] for those who are still going for [28:21] additional CSS, [28:23] that's the okay, I can't do this with [28:25] theme JSON and I just want to change one [28:28] little thing in CSS. The additional CSS [28:31] has been around for uh in WordPress [28:33] quite a bit, but they moved it so people [28:36] will search for it. And I want to kind [28:38] of warn people, it's going to be it's in [28:41] the Eclipse menu of the sty uh the style [28:45] um section in both sides. Yeah, we have [28:47] style sections. I don't know why, but on [28:49] two sides of u the editor, uh one is [28:53] directly from the menu of the site [28:55] editor and then the eclipse menu. [28:57] Eclipse menus are the three button three [29:00] dot menus. [29:01] >> Yeah. Yeah. [29:02] >> Just saying. Yeah, it's a it's a [29:04] technical term that I had to look up to [29:06] here. [29:07] >> I'm trying to find that here. Is it this [29:10] one here? Additional CSS control moved. [29:13] Is that what you're talking about? [29:14] >> Yeah. And that's Yeah. And that's where [29:16] the places are to look for it. I I know [29:18] that kind of will trip up a few people [29:21] um that are site uh builders and so if [29:23] they listen to it um they get a leg up [29:26] on finding it. [29:27] >> Lovely, lovely, lovely. [29:30] >> I think the last one is more um [29:33] about the video block because I really [29:37] like that you can now have multiple [29:39] subtitle tracks when you upload it. [29:42] >> Yeah. So you can have a Korean track, [29:44] you can have an English track, a German [29:46] track and you can manage that all [29:48] through the interface there and then [29:51] also display it. Uh that's really one of [29:54] the power features now to get [29:57] multilingual. So, in the past when you [29:59] uploaded a because I had to do this for [30:01] things like the page builder summit [30:02] because we use video press and you have [30:04] to you have to go into the you drop your [30:06] video into the media library then you go [30:08] into the block editor put it somewhere [30:09] on the website and you're right you only [30:11] had this one option um and it may be [30:14] that you want to do it in I don't know [30:15] Spanish or Korean or whatever and now [30:17] you've got the option to do that's [30:18] that's very cool actually I didn't know [30:20] that I missed that entirely. [30:23] >> Yeah. So I'm kind of Yeah. And now you [30:25] can do styling and of form elements in [30:28] theme JSON. That's for all the theme [30:30] builders out there. Kind of a big big [30:32] sigh finally. Um, and it's not entirely [30:37] yet for all the form elements, but it's [30:39] a good start. [30:40] >> Okay. [30:41] >> And that's pretty much what I had [30:43] selected for now. So, like I said [30:46] earlier, if you if you go to big, it's [30:48] peace, which is called uh WordPress 6.9 [30:52] source of truth. The link will be in the [30:53] show notes tomorrow, but it's good [30:55] times.com and, you know, go to one of [30:56] the more recent posts and it will be [30:58] there. Uh there's literally I don't know [31:01] 50 maybe 60 different things that to [31:03] look at here, which gives you some [31:05] indication of the weight of this [31:06] particular release. Um and there were [31:09] just a few that Be has chosen, but you [31:11] can see I'm showing on the screen. If [31:12] you're not able to see what's on the [31:14] screen, I'm just scrolling through a [31:15] list of uh anchor tags which will take [31:18] you to a different part of the article [31:19] and there's absolutely masses in there. [31:22] So, please do feel free to go and check [31:24] that out. Uh I'm gone big. It sounded [31:26] like you had something else. Oh, I just [31:28] wanted to mention it's um I I had the [31:30] idea I needed to do everything that's in [31:32] the block editor because sometimes [31:34] that's hard for content creators to [31:36] find, but there's also a ton of [31:39] information available for developers and [31:41] that's going to be on the bottom and are [31:43] only linked or or only a few things are [31:46] actually described and the rest are kind [31:48] of more developer notes to go to and [31:51] that list is also quite long. Yeah. [31:56] >> Yeah. There's another like 10 hours of [31:59] 10 hours of content right there to go [32:02] and look at. Um, we're going to [32:03] concentrate on a few other bits and [32:05] pieces related to this, but we're going [32:07] to sort of move away from this more [32:08] general approach into some sort of [32:10] slightly more detailed approaches. Much [32:12] of it we can't cover in detail because [32:14] the articles that we're referencing are [32:16] just technical deep dives and you will [32:18] have to What was that, Taco? [32:21] >> And they're so long and so detailed. [32:23] >> Yeah. Exactly. You just can't you can't [32:25] pause it. So we'll just sort of [32:27] highlight that it's there, give you an [32:28] intuition of some of the bits and pieces [32:30] that have been mentioned. Uh the first [32:32] one just going to dwell here just for a [32:34] moment to read out this text in yellow [32:36] and then we'll go and show you where [32:37] this actually ends up. This is uh [32:39] Western Routers um website and he's got [32:42] a piece which he released I don't know a [32:44] week ago or so now called WordPress 6.9 [32:46] performance landings. And as I said I'll [32:49] just read it out. WordPress 6.9 includes [32:51] so many performance improvements. [32:53] Scripts with fetch priority, increased [32:55] inline CSS, minified theme styles, on [32:58] demand block styles and classic themes, [33:00] the template enhancement output buffer, [33:03] and much more. And then he says, go and [33:05] check out a field guide, which I will [33:07] link to in the show notes again [33:09] tomorrow. This is it. And it's it's it [33:12] rivals your piece uh big. It's not quite [33:14] as long, but uh it's pretty much there. [33:17] And he goes into [33:19] basically the code for all of this. And [33:21] so you can see this giant list of uh [33:23] anchor tags which you can look at to uh [33:25] figure out I don't know fetch priority [33:27] support for scripts increased inline [33:29] style limit uh load block styles on [33:32] demand and classic themes some of the [33:33] things that you mentioned and so much [33:35] more but it's all there um I don't know [33:38] if anybody wants to actually add [33:39] anything into that something that they [33:41] found curious or interesting if not I [33:42] will just along [33:44] >> yeah maybe good to know is that uh [33:47] western's piece is very detailed but [33:50] like you said very technical whereas [33:54] >> as always Bergage piece can be read by [33:57] non-developers as well. Yeah, it's much [34:00] more descriptive. It's much more [34:02] accessible to uh non-devs [34:05] >> and will give you that great overview of [34:08] what's what's coming. [34:10] >> Nice. Nice. [34:11] >> And I would have said that if you [34:12] weren't here, Bit. [34:14] >> Thank you. Thank you. [34:16] >> Really like your writing every single [34:18] time. And yeah, like you said yourself, [34:20] this is probably the most detailed or [34:22] the longest piece you've ever done. [34:25] >> Um, and it did take me about 20 minutes [34:29] to read through. [34:30] >> Yeah. [34:31] >> But none of that feels boring. So, it's [34:33] it's definitely worth a read if you're [34:35] using WordPress day today. [34:37] >> And the check is in the mail. [34:43] That was very nice. Very nice of you. [34:45] Uh, okay. [34:46] >> Yeah. Isn't that lovely? So, okay. Okay, [34:48] I notice I'm just going to pause briefly [34:49] to just take a look at a few of the [34:51] comments. I don't know where we got to. [34:52] There's not very many, but there's a few [34:54] few people saying hello. Uh, and then [34:56] Amber Hinds drops in, which is [34:59] interesting given what we're just going [35:00] to talk about. I'm so sorry, Jonathan. [35:02] Uh, it does this. It just it it [35:04] obliterates the person's face at the [35:06] bottom. For the next 10 days, I'm going [35:08] to be deleting triple emails. So, we're [35:10] talking about Black Friday. Okay. But I [35:12] do it so I can't do it too, so I can't [35:14] complain. Um she says Amber goes on to [35:18] say so sad about zeal as does um Seth [35:23] there as well. And uh Ree also chimes in [35:27] and says 24 is no age. That's exactly [35:30] right. Okay. Um Amber talking about time [35:33] to read. She says time to read is kind [35:35] of BS. Um so much impacts it abilities [35:38] but also from styles, paragraphs, [35:40] lengths include uh image inclusion, etc. [35:43] It would be much better to show, and [35:44] I'll just read what she says, the word [35:47] count rather than minutes. Do you know [35:49] that's interesting? You get an option in [35:50] that block though, don't you? Wasn't [35:52] there a word? Yeah, there was a word [35:53] count as opposed to a time to read. [35:55] Yeah, I've always been a fairly sort of [35:57] I've been medium to fast reader. Never [36:00] like very very fast, but certainly not [36:02] very very slow. And I've often found [36:04] those things I I usually take off a [36:07] couple of minutes. If it says 30 [36:08] minutes, I'll probably manage it in 25 [36:10] or something like that. So, it never [36:11] quite jives, but I think the word count [36:13] also, I don't know, there's something [36:15] about that that would freak me out. If I [36:16] saw it was 10,000 words, I'm I'm heading [36:19] off. It's like 20 minutes. I could do 20 [36:21] minutes. 10,000 words. I'm not sure. [36:24] Sounds like an essay. Uh, so the beauty [36:27] of the time to read it. We had a similar [36:28] conversation in the learn the learn [36:30] WordPress courses. We used to have uh a [36:33] percentage of people that have completed [36:34] the course and we remove that because if [36:36] that percentage looks massively high and [36:38] it's something you're struggling with, [36:39] you might think, oh well, everybody can [36:41] do this and I can't. [36:42] >> Yeah. [36:42] >> So, I feel like time to read it just [36:44] gives you a bit of okay, this is 30 [36:45] minutes of my life, it's no big deal. [36:47] >> If I see like 4,000 words, I'm no past. [36:50] >> You know what's curious about it? I [36:51] wonder I wonder how much like nobody has [36:54] any metrics for this. I'm sure nobody [36:55] can answer it. But anecdotally, I wonder [36:57] how much of a put off it is as opposed [37:00] to a welcome in. Cuz obviously the [37:03] intention is to give you some intuition [37:04] as yes, I can manage this now, but I [37:07] wonder how much of it ends up in no, I [37:10] can't manage this now. And then you [37:12] never get back to it. It's kind of [37:13] curious, isn't it? [37:15] >> Yeah. [37:15] >> Well, if it doesn't have the timing, [37:17] I'll just scroll down and see how long [37:20] it is. And if if I estimate that I have [37:23] the time to read this now, [37:25] >> yeah, even if it's off by 50%. I will I [37:30] will still [37:32] attribute some value to the time to [37:35] read. [37:35] >> Yes. Yes. I I do what I did a minute [37:38] ago. I look at the size of the scroll [37:40] bar and if the scroll bar is really [37:42] tiny, then that's a bit of an indication [37:44] to me. The other thing I do and I I [37:46] don't know if anybody else does this. I [37:48] have I have um I'm I'm currently using [37:50] the Vivaldi browser and it's got this [37:52] button inside the browser where you [37:54] click it and it you know it just it [37:56] called reading mode and uh you know [37:58] there's extensions and all sorts of [37:59] things that will do the same thing but [38:00] Vivaldi is it's right in the browser. [38:02] You click the button and it just gives [38:04] you the text and something about that [38:07] makes even if it was like like way too [38:10] long for me something about that means [38:12] I'm going to embark on it. just the fact [38:14] that it's black on white, the the images [38:16] in some cases have gone. Certainly [38:18] things like advertisements have been [38:20] maybe pulled out and things like that. [38:23] Menus might have disappeared. It's just [38:24] the text itself that that helps me get [38:26] over the hump of [38:27] >> of reading those kind of things. [38:29] >> Um yeah, Chrome has that too. Um I I [38:33] kind of but it opens in a sidebar, not [38:35] in the whole browser. And for the time [38:37] to read um I think that was that was one [38:39] of the accessibility um improvements is [38:43] that you now can display a range. Yeah. [38:46] So it was 22 [38:49] >> 23 to 32 minutes or okay that's [38:51] interesting. So yeah [38:52] >> yeah to kind of offset that. Oh if I'm [38:55] not taking it. Yeah. [38:57] >> Yeah. Do I know? [38:58] >> Maybe you should ask some questions like [39:00] did you have a drink last night? Uh if [39:02] yes, we we're going to double the amount [39:04] of time that we have. [39:06] >> Is this a technical piece? Yeah. Right. [39:08] Yeah. Yeah. How good are you with PHP? [39:11] >> Are you English native? [39:12] >> Yeah. [39:13] >> Uh yeah, for sure. [39:15] >> Yeah. So, what could already help is if [39:17] you'd be able to sort of set an an [39:20] average reading speed in your browser [39:22] where I can say, look, in English on [39:25] average I do so many words a minute, and [39:27] I'll figure that out over time. Do you [39:29] know that's twice as fast? [39:32] >> That's genuinely a great idea. Like that [39:35] that should be a thing that the browsers [39:37] ship with. There should be a a flag [39:39] somewhere where you could say in the [39:41] browser like somewhere inside of [39:43] Chromium or whatever it may be. I [39:45] typically read a 100 words a minute or [39:47] whatever. That would be really great. [39:48] And then the [39:50] >> real great thing would be if the browser [39:52] would detect it. [39:53] >> Yes. Well, oh, so mo it detects scroll. [39:56] Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah, I don't [39:58] know if you if any of you have like an [39:59] ebook reader. I have a Kindle and at the [40:02] very beginning of every book, it does [40:04] this process and so normally you it can [40:06] show you how many minutes is left in the [40:08] chapter and what have you and it does [40:09] exactly that. It for a few minutes it [40:11] figures out how many times you're [40:13] flicking through the pages and how many [40:14] words that is and it it's it's really [40:17] accurate. Um and uh and it gives you a [40:20] real I mean it's just great. you know, [40:21] how long before before I get in trouble [40:24] for reading the next chapter [40:28] is basically what I have to kind of [40:30] figure out. And as expected, the Twitch [40:32] meaningless comment drops in. [40:36] >> Thanks for that, whoever whoever wrote [40:38] that script. Appreciate it. Uh Amber's [40:42] back with a comment about that. The time [40:43] to read plug-in accounts for images. [40:45] Okay, great. Thank you. The block Oh, [40:48] does it or doesn't? Yes, it does. the [40:49] block doesn't which makes me think it's [40:52] less accurate. Okay, so this is a a [40:54] plugin versus the core block. All right, [40:56] thank you very much. Um and then we have [40:59] uh Aki Hammano. Hello, nice to have you [41:02] with us. Y um there's a lot of [41:04] discussion before shipping this block to [41:06] core. The initial display is a range [41:08] view and the word count option is [41:10] provided to and it's got truncated. I'll [41:12] read it to mitigate accessibility [41:15] concerns as much as possible. Isn't this [41:17] great? We've got two people in the chat [41:19] who would like like really on it with [41:21] this. We got Amber with the [41:23] accessibility side and we've got Aki on [41:24] the developer side and we got Jonathan. [41:26] Yeah, on it goes. Um, this is fabulous. [41:29] I'm really enjoying it. So, yeah, it's [41:31] there anyway. Make make use of it if you [41:33] want. It's available to you uh if you [41:36] want. I didn't know we'd have the uh the [41:38] time to read now. It'll be time to [41:40] listen. We need that inside of a [41:41] WordPress. How long was the section [41:43] about the time to read? [41:47] Uh, okay. Right. Anything else about [41:49] that before we move on to the next bit? [41:52] Okay. In which case, we will do just [41:54] that. Let me pop it back on the screen [41:57] one more time. This is big. It's Oh, no. [41:59] Biggest piece we've done with apologies. [42:01] So, here we go. We're back with Western. [42:04] Um, WordPress 6.9 frontend performance [42:06] field guide. As Taco said, is [42:08] complicated and what have you. Um, go [42:10] check it out, but I'll link to it in the [42:12] show notes, but lots and lots is the [42:14] answer. I I I feel like I should [42:16] probably read some of these things out [42:17] rather than just be quite so clear. [42:19] Okay, here we go. 6.9 is the second and [42:21] final major release of 2025, including [42:23] numerous improvements to the performance [42:25] of loading pages on the front end. The [42:27] reason I want to mention it and not just [42:29] glibly move on is because the [42:30] performance team, oh, what what a great [42:34] thing that was making that team and how [42:37] much we've all benefit benefited from [42:38] it. So, here we go. This is what they've [42:40] been up to lately. Scripts. Improve [42:42] script loading performance by adding [42:43] support for fetch priority, printing [42:46] script modules in the footer, and [42:47] optimizing the emoji detection script. [42:50] Styles. Optimize local, sorry, loading [42:52] of stylesheets by loading block styles [42:55] on demand in classic themes. That's [42:57] actually really cool. Um, emitting [42:59] styles for hidden blocks. Again, very [43:02] cool. Increasing the inline style limit [43:05] from 20 to 40K and inlining minified [43:08] stylesheets in block themes. introducing [43:10] the template enhancement output buffer [43:13] to implement optimizations previously [43:15] impossible. And then there's a more [43:17] section spawn WP chronic shutdown, [43:19] eliminate layout shifts in the video [43:21] block, fix RSS feed caching and so on. [43:24] There's way more than that, but uh they [43:26] were the high level item and uh yeah, [43:29] great thanks to the performance team for [43:31] amazing work. I I just I always do [43:33] wonder how will they ever run out of [43:36] things [43:37] to make better? Is there gonna be a [43:39] moment where they go, "No, we've done [43:41] done performance." It's [43:43] >> for as long as there are developers [43:44] adding new features, there will always [43:46] be other developers improving [43:48] performance. [43:49] >> Yeah, I um I on a like on a pet project [43:52] the other the other week um implemented [43:54] view transitions and and I know that's [43:56] bundled inside of the performance labs [43:58] plugin. So, I just find that so great. I [44:02] just I don't know what it is. There's [44:03] just something super cool about [44:05] navigating from one thing to another. [44:07] And it doesn't I've just got it on its [44:08] typical settings and it doesn't just do [44:10] that sort of crossfade where one thing [44:12] sort of seems to just fade out and then [44:14] come in. It does things like it it knows [44:16] that the link you've clicked on the H1 [44:19] now belongs up there and so it kind of [44:22] it's almost like it's zoomed into place [44:24] and it it's just cool. Um and very much [44:28] like what the what the I guess the kids [44:30] on mobile phones are expecting in their [44:32] UIs these days with you know core [44:34] animations in iOS and things like that. [44:36] So anyway, the performance team doing [44:38] great work. Anybody want to add anything [44:40] before we move on? [44:43] Okay, in which case uh handy that Amber [44:46] is in the comments. We've got uh Joe [44:48] Doulson here having a chat with Joe [44:49] tomorrow. I'm quite looking forward to [44:50] that. Accessibility accessibility is [44:53] what's under the the microscope now. Uh [44:56] accessibility improvements in WordPress [44:57] 6.9. Same rules apply. It's a very very [45:00] long article. Um, the article itself [45:03] isn't long, but it links out to a whole [45:05] bunch of different things, if you know [45:07] what I mean. So, uh, WordPress 6.9 [45:09] brings extensive accessibility [45:11] improvements across WordPress core and [45:13] Gutenberg. I'm paraphrasing, so excuse [45:15] me. These updates include changes to [45:17] administration, customization, login and [45:19] registration, bundle themes, and the [45:21] block editor. Uh and then in terms of [45:23] core, the improvements to WordPress core [45:26] include 33 accessibility enhancement and [45:28] bug fix bug fixes which include numerous [45:31] new or improved screen reader [45:33] notifications, a complete update of CSS [45:36] generated content to ensure no excess [45:38] content is spoken and code changes to [45:41] ensure proper semantics and improved [45:44] focus management. Um, Amber, forgive me [45:47] because I'm not an expert when it comes [45:49] to in in terms of accessibility. Um, I [45:52] hope I'm not missing out anything [45:54] important here. And then in terms of [45:56] Gutenberg, Gutenberg changes has uh 40 [45:58] 44 accessibility fixes and enhancements, [46:01] including the addition of new blocks and [46:04] the block notes feature. There we go, [46:06] Jonathan. There it was. The new block [46:09] notes feature that have undergone [46:11] accessibility reviews as well. And then [46:14] there's a whole load of other things if [46:15] you're curious that you can link to. [46:17] >> Should we just get into the notes thing [46:19] right now whilst whilst before we forget [46:21] about it? [46:22] >> So in WordPress 6.9 [46:24] uh we're in phase three of the Gutenberg [46:27] project and the intention is to I guess [46:29] the north star is Google Docs style um [46:34] collaboration. the idea that you can [46:36] collaborate and you know other people [46:38] can log in and perhaps you'll be able to [46:40] see the the cursor moving around and [46:42] things that are highlighted will be [46:44] visible to other people that is an [46:46] incredibly hard technical challenge [46:49] given that we don't own the Google data [46:52] centers for each WordPress website and [46:55] notes is like a first pass at this I [46:58] suppose really and it's the idea on a [47:00] per block basis so you don't get to [47:03] highlight a bit of a paragraph you [47:05] making a note on the paragraph block, [47:08] you can put a little note in the [47:10] sidebar. Um, those notes can then be [47:12] viewed by other relevant people with the [47:14] correct permissions and they can be sort [47:17] of assigned to people and they can be [47:18] checked off as complete and those kind [47:20] of things and it's a really really nice [47:23] first pass which doesn't require a great [47:26] deal. I wouldn't have thought of server [47:28] grunt or hosting, you know, hosting on a [47:31] super duper web sockets enabled, um, you [47:35] know, um, infrastructure. It's a little [47:37] bit more low-key than that, but uh, [47:39] Jonathan, was there more that you wanted [47:41] to add? [47:42] >> So, I'm probably not actually the best [47:44] person to talk about this. Um, probably [47:46] Bigot knows more about this than I do. [47:48] Would that be correct, Bigot? [47:50] >> I don't know. I don't know what you [47:51] know. [47:52] >> I don't know. I don't know much. [47:56] Um, so yeah, I I just I just mentioned [47:58] it as part of the discussion I was [48:00] having around some of the changes coming [48:01] to to Gutenberg with the nodes feature. [48:03] Uh, so began I think you have a better [48:05] view of what's happen [48:07] if you share. [48:09] >> Well, the the notes are in Yeah. And [48:11] WordPress core and they're coming uh as [48:14] Nathan described um you you see little [48:17] bubbles coming up and um on the right [48:19] hand side the sidebar there's an [48:21] additional sidebar. Um, we might run out [48:25] of stack uh room for how how often we [48:28] stack the the sidebars, but [48:30] >> yeah, [48:31] >> the blog notes are in there or the the [48:33] notes are in there. Um, so if somebody [48:36] has access to a post, they can leave [48:39] notes. So um any author can leave notes [48:44] on on their own but every editor can [48:47] leave notes on every author's uh post [48:50] and an admin can leave notes everywhere. [48:53] Um and um you can resolve them, you can [48:57] um open and reopen them and then they um [49:00] yeah have little bubbles. You can thread [49:03] them with replies. It's uh actually [49:05] quite nice uh interface and you see in [49:09] the block toolbar if there are actually [49:12] um notes because there are some avatars [49:16] uh uh appearing um if the sidebar is not [49:19] open. So um how would you know that [49:21] there are notes um that's one one thing. [49:24] >> Yeah. So, [49:25] >> so is it a little bit like the I don't [49:28] know, let's say for example, you've got [49:29] Jetpack installed or something over at [49:31] the top right, you get that green Jetack [49:33] icon which is near very close to the [49:36] publish button [49:37] >> or or the update button or whatever it [49:39] may be. Do do we get like a little [49:40] speech bubble there or something saying [49:42] like and that demonstrates okay stuff [49:44] and does it have like a little like a [49:46] little red nag or something like you [49:48] might find in Google Docs? No, there [49:50] were there were discussions about the [49:51] redneck red nag uh not redneck redneck. [49:57] >> They were they were entirely different [49:58] disc in [50:02] >> but that's where my brain goes. Sorry I [50:04] was in the south of America for quite a [50:06] bit. [50:09] >> And and um that they haven't find the [50:11] right interface for that yet. [50:13] >> Okay. So it's it's like it's like a [50:15] sidebar, but it lives it's not like [50:17] occupying space in another sidebar. No, [50:20] like an accordion. It's got its own [50:22] side. Yeah, that that is getting that [50:24] has the capacity that sidebar to get [50:26] very very busy, doesn't it? There's a [50:28] lot going on. But it feels like if [50:30] you've got it if it's got its own [50:31] generic sidebar and also I suppose if it [50:34] gets invoked when you interact with the [50:36] let's say the you know the the comment [50:38] which is in the the editor itself then [50:41] yeah anyway it's coming. uh you'll be [50:43] able to make use of it in 6.9 in just a [50:46] few short days and try it out for [50:47] yourself. [50:48] >> Um WordPress.com no VIP WordPress a [50:53] couple of weeks ago released a post [50:55] where and I don't know how they did it. [50:56] I don't know what I mean presumably they [50:58] were on the com infrastructure. I'm not [51:01] entirely sure but they they appear to [51:03] have pulled off a fairly [51:05] pretty much [51:07] faithful um what's the word? faithful [51:11] version of like Google Docs inside the [51:13] block editor. [51:14] >> Yeah, real time. [51:15] >> I think there's probably a lot of heavy [51:16] lifting. Um I'd be kind of curious to [51:18] see if that turns into like a an [51:21] enterprise level feature where you pay [51:23] for some additional I don't know server [51:25] somewhere which is holding holding the [51:27] comments. Maybe a jetpack feature or [51:29] something like that if you know what I [51:30] mean. Well, I think the biggest part is [51:32] actually the server infrastructure [51:34] because you need some web RT um kind of [51:38] um socket thingy and that has on shared [51:42] hosting definitely lag. So, you need a [51:44] different infrastructure for that. Uh [51:46] you can do it on any VPN um server [51:49] hosting. Um they the um the plug-in it's [51:53] actually uh the testing of the [51:55] collaboration feature that will come. [51:57] They're aiming for 7.0 zero. And um this [52:01] is pretty much a a live testing. They [52:03] have a few things that are VIP only [52:07] um section there, but um it's definitely [52:10] um they have a new plug-in for that and [52:14] um yeah. [52:15] >> Yeah, it's a work in progress and you [52:16] can check out. So Amber makes an [52:18] interesting point. So she mentioned uh [52:21] did we do that one already? Yes, we did. [52:24] So sorry, Jonathan, [52:26] your face just disappeared. Uh Amber [52:29] says you can only have one note on any [52:31] block though. We thought about having [52:33] the accessibility checker flag issues on [52:35] blocks in this way but then no one else [52:38] can create notes on that that block. [52:39] Okay, that's interesting. Yeah, I hadn't [52:41] really thought about that. So if [52:42] somebody has already put a note on a [52:44] block is the current implementation [52:47] Amber is is what you're saying that that [52:48] block is now it's allocation of notes is [52:51] consumed [52:53] um [52:55] >> yeah okay good point but you can't start [52:58] another thread about let's say I don't [53:00] know there were two subjects covered in [53:02] that paragraph okay that's an [53:03] interesting point um and then maybe [53:06] that's work to be done and then Amber [53:08] says it's sort of irritating that notes [53:09] are block level also you can't have [53:11] different notes on different parts of a [53:12] sentence. Yeah, that was what I was [53:13] trying to say. You know, in the Google [53:14] Doc thing, you just highlight a word or [53:16] something, don't you? But [53:17] >> definitely out of scope for now. [53:19] >> It's definitely [53:20] >> I think this will Yeah, I' I'd think [53:23] though that this will have a very [53:24] positive effect on um the readability [53:30] for posts in WordPress because now [53:33] people will finally start writing [53:35] shorter paragraphs [53:37] >> so they have more. [53:40] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good point. [53:42] That is a good point. And uh Akis popped [53:44] up at just the right moment hopefully to [53:46] assuage Amber's worries there. Inline [53:49] level notes are planned for the future. [53:51] And by that I guess Aki that you're [53:53] meaning, you know, a bit of a paragraph [53:56] or whatever it may be. So, so here's a [53:58] curious example, right? So, for this [54:00] show, I put together some show notes and [54:03] I cannot do them in the block editor, [54:07] which would be the perfect place to do [54:08] them. We're talking about WordPress. I [54:10] create a post in WordPress so that all [54:12] so I I've already created the post. All [54:15] of the links are in there, but it it [54:17] would be a total hot mess. So I this [54:20] week it went into a Google doc. This [54:22] show could easily skip that step [54:25] entirely. Um and maybe now with the with [54:28] the notes feature, maybe that'll be [54:30] enough actually because typically we [54:31] don't have too many people commenting on [54:33] one particular inline bit. So yeah, [54:35] we'll wait and see. Um, and Amber says, [54:39] "Good point, Taco." I can't make that [54:41] one go away. There it is. There you go. [54:44] You should photoshop that. That's a good [54:46] one. Good point, Taco. [54:48] >> I will I will say this. We might Sorry. [54:51] We might not have, you know, Google [54:52] levels of collaboration yet, but I can [54:54] controlV a link and paste it over to [54:56] some text. So, [54:57] >> yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. [54:59] >> You can't do that in Google Docs. [55:00] >> No. No. That's true. Oh, and that messes [55:03] me up every single time that I'm in [55:05] Google Docs. [55:06] >> Yes, [55:06] >> especially the fact that it's control K [55:08] and the command pal. It's control K. [55:10] >> Links are rubbish in Google Docs. Like, [55:12] it's way superior in in the block [55:14] editor. I maybe it is like I I don't [55:17] know why they haven't figured that out. [55:19] Maybe their typical user isn't doing [55:21] links. It's just text, you know, they're [55:22] writing. [55:23] >> Well, my favorite my favorite thing [55:24] about that is even GitHub allows you to [55:26] to control via link and then it turns it [55:28] into a markdown link. So, even GitHub [55:30] figured that out. [55:31] >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Come on, Google. [55:33] You've got billions. Do the links, [55:35] right? Uh, okay. So, that was the um [55:39] accessibility piece. Um, in terms of [55:41] that, Amber, if there's anything that we [55:43] missed, uh, please let us know. I mean, [55:46] really, I'm just pointing everybody in [55:48] terms of Joe's piece here, accessibility [55:49] improvements in WordPress 6.9. You can [55:52] go and check. I think where you asked [55:54] are we ever running out of performance [55:56] optimizations. We can ask the same [55:59] question for accessibility improvements [56:02] and Jonathan's uh reply is still valid. [56:05] As long as developers create code, [56:08] >> yeah, [56:08] >> we will have accessibility improvements [56:10] because [56:12] >> unfortunately too many developers are [56:14] lacking accessibility knowledge. [56:18] >> Do you know what though? like the the [56:20] more that WordPress does in this regard, [56:22] the so this is this is going to sound [56:25] wrongheaded because I'm not advocating [56:28] that people willfully don't know what [56:30] they need to do in terms of [56:32] accessibility, but the more heavy [56:34] lifting that WordPress core can do to [56:36] make that job easily available and right [56:38] there at the po, you know, so you're in [56:40] a paragraph or you've uploaded an image [56:42] or what have you, the more that the [56:43] block editor can do to sort of say, hang [56:45] on, this bit needs doing before you [56:47] progress to the next step. the the less [56:49] likely those things are [56:51] >> um going to be wrong. So yeah, [56:53] >> at user level for sure, [56:55] >> right? Right. Yeah, exactly that. Yeah, [56:57] >> developer level it's slightly different. [57:00] Although code style and stuff like that [57:03] >> uh really do help [57:04] >> as well. [57:05] >> Yeah, thank you. A good clarification [57:07] point. Okay, so that was that and then [57:10] I'm going to move on to here. So we're [57:12] over I was going to mention this anyway, [57:13] but Jonathan's joining us uh so he might [57:16] as well take it over. It's uh what's new [57:18] in Gutenberg 22.1. Let's just do give it [57:21] the scroll bar test. It's pretty big. [57:25] It's still pretty big. Um and because I [57:28] knew Jonathan wasn't going to be on, I [57:30] didn't highlight anything. What I did [57:32] say to Jonathan prior to the call was uh [57:34] pick the bits that you are most [57:36] intrigued about that are dropping in [57:37] Gutenberg. So over to you Jonathan. What [57:39] are you in what do you want to mention [57:41] from this? [57:42] >> So the first big thing is the new tabs [57:44] block. Um and and one of the main [57:46] reasons I want to highlight it is [57:48] because the tabs lock was actually [57:49] something that was added to Gutenberg by [57:51] uh Seth Rubenstein from Pew Research. Um [57:54] it's something that they developed [57:56] internally for their customers and then [57:58] they brought it over to core. Um and I [58:00] just think it's one of those really cool [58:01] stories of like you know an external [58:02] company, an external agency finding a [58:05] solution that works and putting it in. [58:06] So you can now have a tabs block that [58:08] you can pop in your posts, your pages, [58:10] your templates. You can add tabs. Uh you [58:13] can add content within those tabs. The [58:14] tabs can have styling, different colors, [58:16] different backgrounds. You can also, and [58:18] the video doesn't show this, you can [58:19] also add a tabs block within a tabs [58:21] block. [58:22] >> So you can have tab one and then tab [58:24] section. And you can kind of get crazy. [58:25] I don't know how far it goes. [58:28] >> All the way down. [58:31] >> The stone do this. [58:35] Yeah. It's a really cool example of [58:37] what's possible with this whole, you [58:38] know, collaboration with open source [58:39] environment. So, do check that out. [58:41] >> May I just ask a quick question? So, in [58:43] the in the very short video that we're [58:44] watching, this is 33 second video where [58:46] you can see, you know, the bare [58:48] essentials of what you've got to do and [58:50] uh you add a tab, you can create some [58:51] paragraph text. Are there constraints [58:53] upon what can go in the tab? So, we can [58:55] see paragraphs. Would I, for example, be [58:57] able to put, I don't know, images? [58:59] >> I I don't to be honest. I [59:02] >> I think it's just possibly a paragraph [59:04] and a header. I'm not sure 100%. Okay. I [59:06] think it's in the in the notes [59:09] >> about what can be added. [59:10] >> Okay. [59:11] >> Okay. [59:11] >> And the other thing to point out, I'm [59:12] glad you've zoomed in there. If you've [59:14] got Gutenberg installed on your [59:15] WordPress site, you do need to enable [59:16] the um experimental block setting to see [59:19] this block. So, it won't just be enabled [59:21] by default. So, it's currently an [59:23] experimental phase. Obviously, all of [59:24] the uh Gutenberg versions that come out [59:26] between major WordPress releases, you [59:28] need to have the plug-in installed to [59:29] try them out. Um, so that was that [59:32] >> nice. And then the other one that I [59:34] thought was really cool was the HTML [59:35] block now supports JavaScript and CSS [59:38] within that HTML. [59:39] >> They're very cool. [59:40] >> That's so wild. [59:42] >> Yeah. [59:42] >> Right. Like as a developer thinking [59:44] about the concept of having CSS and [59:46] JavaScript inside essentially a [59:48] JavaScript block, it all just works. [59:50] It's all just magical. What I also like [59:52] about this is if we talk about, you [59:53] know, we were talking about additional [59:54] CSS earlier. One of my biggest pet [59:57] peeves as a developer working on any [60:00] project where I join the project sort of [60:01] halfway through or pick it up from [60:03] someone else is when you've got 700 [60:05] different places where additional CSS [60:07] has been added or additional JavaScript [60:08] has been added [60:09] >> and now you have to hunt down all these [60:11] places. [60:11] >> So I love the fact that additional CSS [60:13] for example is in the editor where you [60:15] can find it. [60:16] >> If you've got a custom HTML block and [60:18] you need some custom CSS and JavaScript [60:19] for it, it's in that block. It's part of [60:21] it. So you don't have to go hunting [60:22] around finding it out. Um, so that's [60:24] just a really cool like, you know, as a [60:26] as a developer, it excites me to see [60:28] these things coming to blocks and coming [60:29] to coming to Core. [60:31] >> Because I want to try and be accessible. [60:33] I'm just going to describe what we've [60:34] just talked about. And that is that um [60:36] there's let's imagine you're in a [60:38] paragraph or something like that. The on [60:40] the toolbar, there's an edit code [60:42] button. And when you click that edit [60:44] code button, you invoke a modal. And the [60:46] modal has, I think it was three choices. [60:48] Uh, yeah, three choices. HTML, CSS, [60:50] JavaScript. you put it in whatever it is [60:53] that you want to do. I don't know, you [60:54] want to change the H tag to something [60:56] else and then click update and then it's [60:58] done. And so of it lives inside the it's [61:01] in a modal popup within the block [61:04] itself. So it's right where the content [61:05] is which is kind of cool, right? Sorry, [61:08] Jonathan. [61:09] >> No, no, all good. And then the last [61:10] thing I just wanted to mention is going [61:12] along with going along with the notes we [61:14] mentioned earlier, there are a whole [61:15] bunch of bug fixes for notes that are [61:17] coming through in this in this new [61:18] version. Um, so you know that's one of [61:20] the big focuses right now. So it's cool [61:22] to see some of these things coming [61:23] through. Uh, so I think if you scroll [61:25] down towards the bottom there just below [61:27] their collabor collaboration. [61:28] >> There we go. [61:29] >> So a whole bunch of fixes for for the [61:31] block stuff. [61:32] >> Um, so yeah, it's just it's just cool to [61:33] see you know we've we've been talking [61:36] about collaboration for I don't know how [61:38] many years now. [61:38] >> Yeah. [61:39] >> Um, and it's cool to see it happening. [61:40] It's cool to see the things coming. So [61:42] yeah, if you want to be at the cutting [61:44] edge of what's coming to the block [61:46] editor, install the Gutenberg plugin, [61:47] enable these experimental features, go [61:49] and play with them, go and test them. Uh [61:51] most of the stuff that's being shipped [61:53] in Gutenberg between now and whenever [61:56] 7.0 comes out will probably eventually [61:57] get merged in 7.0. So it's a good way to [61:59] keep up to date with what's coming uh [62:01] and start start influencing it and start [62:03] giving your feedback as to how these [62:05] things work. [62:06] >> Yeah. And there's absolutely loads here. [62:07] So, for example, just on the [62:08] collaboration piece, there's must be [62:10] what 18 or something there. Most of them [62:12] bound to the the notes feature that [62:15] we've just been describing. Uh, if [62:17] memory serves, I think we're on release [62:19] candidate 2 at the moment. I could be [62:22] wrong by a day or two about that. Um, [62:23] yeah, so we're on release candidate one, [62:25] two, sorry. Um, meaning that we're fast [62:28] closing on the official date, 2nd of [62:30] December, I want to say. So, you know, [62:33] if you've got any burning issues, now is [62:35] the time to uh to bring them to people's [62:38] attention. But, uh hopefully within a 10 [62:40] days or so from now, we'll have the uh [62:43] the brand new version of WordPress in [62:45] everybody's hands. I think Oh, no. I was [62:48] going to say I think that was all the [62:49] 6.90 stuff, but I don't think it is. Uh [62:52] okay, so this is a little beyond my pay [62:54] grade, and it's also something for some [62:56] reason I haven't really paid all that [62:57] much attention to. And and we have Aki [63:00] in the comments. Um, so this is uh over [63:03] on the repository website. Uh, so it [63:05] says core contributors prepare to iframe [63:08] the post editor in 7.0 prompting [63:11] backward compatibility concerns. Let's [63:13] ignore that last bit for the moment, the [63:14] backwards compatibility concerns. Let's [63:17] just focus on why you would even want to [63:19] do this. So my understanding is it's [63:22] just a it's just a neat simple way of [63:27] isolating let's say admin CSS from the [63:31] editor. Is that literally it? Is it as [63:33] simple as that or am I missing some [63:35] major thing? [63:38] Nobody knows. [63:38] >> It's essentially as simple as that. [63:40] >> Okay. Yeah. Great. Yeah. [63:42] >> So that that horrible experience you get [63:44] where you go into the block editor and [63:46] everything is wildly different because [63:48] there's just a whole range of other CSS [63:50] that you can't quite figure out where it [63:52] is. Um and so when you go onto the front [63:55] end you've got this uh difference as you [63:57] probably know uh iframes kind of little [64:00] containers. They they live in their own [64:02] little universe if you like and so the [64:05] CSS can't be injected into it. Now so [64:08] that all seems good right? In fact, that [64:10] seems like why didn't we do this like a [64:13] decade or more ago? And um and so that I [64:16] guess is something, but the the [64:18] technicalities of it mean maybe it [64:20] couldn't have happened in the past. And [64:21] we've got Aki in the comments, but I'll [64:23] just read a few bits and pieces out [64:25] here. So it says it's a change aimed at [64:27] modernizing the editing experience and [64:28] reducing interference from admin styles [64:30] and third party scripts. The plan [64:32] outlined last week by Aki uh in a [64:35] developer note which will be linked to [64:37] in the show notes. transition begins in [64:39] a few days time and then it explains the [64:41] technicalities of how that works with [64:43] API version two or lower. Uh these [64:46] changes are intended to prepare [64:47] developers for the switch in full coming [64:50] in seven. So 6.9 [64:54] no that's this is just really for [64:57] developers. So nothing is changing in [64:58] 6.9. Blocks will continue to work as [65:01] before. It's just that if you are I [65:04] guess a developer and you're playing [65:05] with blocks and you want your the people [65:07] using your block to know what's going on [65:09] now you are going to get some warnings [65:13] to say that there is something a foot [65:15] that you need to take care of and [65:17] apparently it does go back uh aki says [65:19] to uh compat 2023 so not that long in [65:23] all honesty and then you know it's [65:25] WordPress because so we have a variety [65:27] of different opinions and it what's [65:28] makes what's makes the project so [65:30] interesting some people are saying um [65:32] maybe maybe not a great move. So for [65:35] example, Mika Epstein is saying that [65:37] maybe there hasn't been enough time for [65:39] developers to react to that and I guess [65:41] the the the thing would be let's point [65:43] you to the fact that it's 7.0 and not [65:45] 6.9 where this is going to happen. And [65:49] um another thing here this is uh Timmy [65:53] Walati [65:54] I am so sorry Timmy for butchering your [65:57] name. uh many developers who maintain [65:59] client sites don't follow the make [66:00] WordPress core blog closely and risk [66:03] being unaware of the upcoming changes. I [66:06] mean yeah I guess that's going to be the [66:08] case. So uh anything to add to that you [66:11] you panelists you [66:14] >> so I'm very much not a developer um but [66:17] I remember from 20 years ago that we [66:20] stepped away from frames for a whole [66:23] bunch of different problems um I don't [66:26] know what's changed in the last 20 years [66:29] that this is the better solution again [66:32] >> absolutely [66:33] >> um so I'm I'm curious at the same time [66:37] I've heard some convers conversations [66:39] that I can't verify because I don't have [66:41] the necessary knowledge that if we would [66:44] move to modern CSS and um that we might [66:49] not need this solution because CSS is [66:54] well capable of separating [66:58] this if we just do it right. But that's [67:00] all hearsay because I don't know enough [67:03] about this. [67:04] >> Yeah, I'm in your camp as well taco [67:07] there. I'm I'm just sort of following [67:09] along for the ride and Courtney's got a [67:10] little bit extra to add here. So she [67:12] says I framing there is a good chat in [67:14] post status if you're involved in that [67:15] involving Joe Doulson and Will William [67:18] Patton regarding concerns for I framing [67:21] more for accessibility. Um sadly I don't [67:25] have the capacity to elucidate on that [67:27] but okay thank you Courtney that's [67:29] really helpful. Um and then she goes on [67:32] to say a little bit more there are two [67:34] separate documents that and that [67:36] increases the overall verosity of the [67:38] interface. So there are two separate [67:39] documents. Are you meaning in order to [67:42] implement the iframe? There's like the [67:44] iframe version and the like such as the [67:48] page and then the iframe with [67:49] >> that's what I mean. So this iframe [67:51] sitting inside of what would have [67:52] otherwise always been just the content [67:54] anyway. Okay. Yeah. Interesting. Okay. [67:56] I'm going to have to let this percolate [67:58] a bit. And uh Courtney again says, "I [68:00] would love to have a recorded experience [68:02] from a screen reader user before and [68:04] after using the I brain approach." [68:08] >> And I think you should also highlight [68:09] Amber's comment. [68:11] >> Oh. [68:11] >> Uh on this. [68:13] >> Oh yeah, I did. [68:14] >> When the editor becomes Yeah. [68:15] >> Yeah. Thank you. Um Amber said, well, [68:18] you can read it out, Taco, if you like. [68:20] >> Yeah. So Amber said, "When the editor [68:21] becomes an iframe, uh accessibility [68:24] browser extensions will no longer be [68:26] able to test it." And this makes [68:27] accessibility harder. [68:30] >> Oh [68:32] gosh, that is interesting. Okay. And I [68:34] imagine for that comment you could [68:36] substitute quite a variety of different [68:38] things. Okay, that is fascinating. Okay. [68:41] Um h food for thought. [68:44] >> Well, most of the blocks are already [68:47] framed. So um I think the the concern is [68:50] valid. Yeah. about backwards [68:52] compatibility because version one and [68:54] version three [68:56] um of the block JSON or block um [69:01] standards um has been not iframe but all [69:06] those that were version three and most [69:08] of them are um have no trouble with the [69:11] iframe. I think it's more a concern of [69:14] if I have installed [69:17] or created a custom block um in 2020. [69:21] Uh it was a custom block and it wasn't [69:24] ready for a site edit. Oh, [69:25] >> I see. [69:26] >> Then it's kind of pro and the developer [69:28] is not there anymore that [69:30] >> right right [69:30] >> block doesn't work anymore. That's a big [69:33] maybe uh because LL um was also in the [69:38] in the GitHub uh chat there [69:40] >> or uh issue uh tracking um comments [69:43] there and said yeah we don't really know [69:46] what uh what wouldn't work. We just need [69:50] to test a few plugins to make sure that [69:53] an older version of um certain blocks [69:56] are still um yeah still yeah rendering [70:01] okay uh in the block editor after [70:03] everything is ifframed. I I'm I'm not [70:07] want to belittle all the concerns. Um [70:09] that's um that's not what I wanted to [70:11] do. But I also want to take a little bit [70:14] the temperature out of it to say okay [70:16] there is the last three years or four [70:19] years even there were most of the blocks [70:21] were all in version three and I framed. [70:23] >> Interesting. What what was so curious [70:25] about this to me is exactly what Taco [70:27] said. I'd kind of forgotten that iframes [70:29] were even a thing. It was one of those [70:31] things that people stopped talking about [70:33] ages ago. And um yeah, so when I saw [70:36] WordPress iframe, what what's going on? [70:39] So, okay, it'll be curious to see in [70:40] which direction this goes and if if [70:42] concerns about accessibility like [70:43] Amber's just mentioned, you know, um [70:46] bring things uh you know, change the [70:48] path that we're moving on. Uh Aki's back [70:50] in the comments. Thank you. Many editors [70:53] such as mobile or tablet preview and the [70:55] site editor already work in frames. So, [70:57] I think that's maybe what big it was [70:59] just uh alluding to. So that [71:01] conversation happened over on the or at [71:04] least that piece happened over on the [71:06] repository. So go and check it out over [71:08] there. We got a further piece from um [71:11] Ray uh as well. And I don't know why [71:13] I've got this little picturein picture [71:15] thing here. That's in Oh, you don't see [71:16] it. It was only me. That's cute. Oh, [71:18] maybe there was a video or something. [71:19] The WP Community Collective celebrates [71:22] contributor day with table sorry [71:24] contributor day table leads with [71:26] appreciation campaign. And there's a [71:28] always um Ray does a summary just right [71:31] here at the very top which is always [71:33] very cool. Uh the WPCC and GoDaddy are [71:36] spotlighting volunteer table leads from [71:38] this year's flagship word camps and [71:40] offering stipens to those who paid their [71:43] own way. So if you read through this uh [71:45] I I don't know if this is something that [71:47] I've heard of before. It's kind of [71:48] curious. The what it's like postumous [71:51] work. They it looks like the WPCC [71:55] too many C's there. I think WPCC [71:58] have gone back and looked at who were [72:00] table leads and how they were funded and [72:03] whether they paid their own way and then [72:06] postumously uh for work already carried [72:09] out going back um and giving stipens [72:12] out. I don't know what the the value of [72:14] those stipens is or whether it's on a [72:15] you know maybe there's a different value [72:16] for different ones but certainly um [72:20] that's what's happening and I think [72:21] that's quite interesting and I'd not [72:23] heard of that before. I don't know, [72:24] Taco. I don't know if you're more [72:26] familiar with this than I am. I imagine [72:28] Courtney in the comments will be, but [72:29] >> we have Courtney in the comments and [72:31] she's on the board of the WPCC. So, [72:34] >> let's see. Maybe she can chime in, but I [72:37] don't. Um, [72:38] >> no. Okay. [72:38] >> I think it's it's interesting that we're [72:41] uh sort of sponsoring retroactively [72:46] a subset of volunteers. [72:49] Um I wonder if it's again if if Courtney [72:53] pop pops up. The curious thing about [72:55] that is it's work which has already been [72:58] done. Um which is like there's something [73:02] slightly different there, isn't there? [73:03] Normally we're sponsoring people to who [73:05] are about to do the thing. Like you you [73:07] hear about scholarships and things like [73:08] that and so somebody gets a stipen to go [73:10] to an event and what have you. This is [73:12] kind of mopping up the stuff that's [73:14] already happened in 2025. And so yeah, [73:17] very very curious [73:18] >> in in that sense. It's very similar to [73:20] the um Yoast fund. [73:23] >> Oh, is that how that works as well? [73:25] >> Yeah, it I didn't know that. [73:27] >> Celebrates the people who have been [73:29] active or are active in the community. [73:32] Um but it's not [73:35] >> before. It's always in hindsight like [73:37] you you have been working on a team for [73:40] XYZ. [73:41] >> I did not know that. Okay, here we go. [73:43] So, Courtney, as always, is uh Oh, I'm [73:46] so Jonathan. I'm going to get better. I [73:48] promise. Uh, in the year 2026, my New [73:50] Year's resolution is to erase Jonathan's [73:53] face less. [73:56] That's got to be the show note. Sorry, [73:58] the show title. Erase Jonathan's face [74:01] less. [74:03] Anyway, back to the comment. Can [74:05] somebody write that down so that I can [74:07] remember it because I'm about to say [74:08] something? Uh the WPCC and GoDaddy did a [74:12] similar campaign last year for Word Camp [74:15] US on the day of the event. I did not [74:17] know any of this. It's fascinating what [74:18] passes you by, isn't it? Uh there is a [74:20] set amount divided among all who did so [74:24] unsponsored. Okay. Okay. So, there's a [74:26] fixed bit of cash and everybody gets a [74:29] slice of that pie. Doing so on the day [74:31] of the event as a surprise was a blast [74:34] but not sustainable for those [74:36] organizing. Oh, okay. Oh, yeah. No [74:38] kidding. I bet that was really fun for [74:40] especially the recipients of that. Um, [74:43] Courtney's available, I'm sure, for [74:44] comments. But, uh, if you want to go and [74:46] read more about that, this this curious [74:49] thing that I'd not heard of before, this [74:51] idea of sort of paying for work already [74:52] done at those events, WP Community [74:55] Collective celebrates contributor day [74:57] with tables with appreciation campaign. [74:59] You can find that on the repository. [75:02] >> Anybody else? Oops. Yeah, [75:04] >> I like that acknowledging of of work [75:07] kind of I see you. It means I see you or [75:11] see you and you did good work and then [75:13] here's uh something something. Yeah, it [75:15] will never make up for hours or [75:17] something like that. But it's a really a [75:19] token of big appreciation and I I love [75:22] and [75:23] >> we should have more of that. I guess the [75:24] curious the curious slight change which [75:27] is a big change is that if you've got [75:29] the pot of money because you haven't [75:32] assigned it at the beginning and let's [75:34] say that you were you were going to [75:35] assign it and you you thought to [75:36] yourself well I can only afford these [75:38] three individuals [75:40] you know now you could maybe do these [75:42] seven individuals who did these things [75:44] because they've already kind of done it [75:45] so it kind of it just manages it in a [75:48] different way plus you get that nice [75:49] surprise of somebody showing up and [75:52] giving you some money which is which [75:53] It's very pleasant. Uh, okay. So, there [75:56] we go. Go and check that out on the [75:57] repository. [75:59] Right. Okay. I will, uh, put this back [76:02] up. I wanted to just to tell you it, [76:04] sorry, it feels a bit like [76:05] self-promotion, but it's not. It's [76:06] really all about Jetack and about uh, [76:09] Devon Walker. Uh, Devon, [76:11] >> it's your podcast. You're allowed to [76:12] self-promote. [76:13] >> Okay, great. Thanks. [76:14] >> Your podcast. On your podcast. Yeah. [76:16] >> Thank you so much. Uh, I always feel bad [76:19] about it, though. I don't know what it [76:20] is. It's terrible. [76:22] >> Um, Okay, so Devin Walker came on to Oh, [76:27] I'm nearly at 200 episodes. That's got [76:29] to be a thing, hasn't it? Wonder what [76:31] >> Oh, wonder what I should do for that. [76:33] >> Yeah, [76:34] >> maybe I'll just skip it and go straight [76:36] to 2011. [76:39] >> Something like that. [76:40] >> Missing. [76:41] >> Yeah, just missed one out. Yeah. Yeah. [76:44] Anyway, so Devon Walker has just um been [76:46] appointed as the lead for Jetack and uh [76:50] Devon previously has been involved in [76:52] all sorts of ways over the WordPress [76:54] space, probably most famously as the [76:56] co-founder with Matt Cromwell of GiveWP [77:00] and uh was kind of having a bit of a [77:02] moment out of being the lead of a [77:05] product and was kind of figuring out [77:06] what his new path would be and um and [77:09] Matt Mullen popped up in his feed [77:11] somewhere and said, "I've got a project [77:13] for you. Do you fancy do you fancy [77:15] taking on Jetpack? And uh it's it's a [77:19] project. Let's just say it like that. [77:22] Devon's very very frank about it uh in [77:24] the podcast episode. You know how [77:27] Jetpack is not everybody's favorite [77:28] thing. In fact, I'm going to go further [77:30] than that. I'd say that Jetack is some [77:32] people's least favorite thing. They [77:35] really kind of rail against it. Um and [77:38] yet it does so much. Maybe that's the [77:40] problem. It's trying to do lots and lots [77:42] of things. So, he says the praise, jack [77:44] of all trades, master of none. Anyway, [77:47] he's now at the helm. He's got the the [77:50] capacity to really shake things up a [77:51] little bit. I think AI is going to be a [77:53] big part of that, plus a reorg of how [77:55] the the team is going to be structured [77:57] and where the the you know, where the [77:58] bodies are going to be and who's going [78:00] to be doing different things. So, um [78:03] exciting times, um I would hope in the [78:05] jetack space. So, yeah, if you're a [78:07] jetack user, you got things to look [78:09] forward to. If you're not, maybe in a [78:11] few months time it'll be uh something [78:13] that you want to look at again because [78:15] yeah, when I got into the WordPress [78:18] space, there was just lots of how to [78:20] describe it. Lots of people having [78:22] strong opinions about Jetack. Let's put [78:24] it that way. And uh there is a lot going [78:27] on inside that plug-in for sure. Does [78:28] anybody want to add anything to that? [78:31] Well, I think they already made a huge [78:33] change since the time that you joined [78:36] the WordPress community because Jetack [78:38] used to be one thing with a whole bunch [78:41] of features. [78:42] >> Yeah. [78:42] >> And is now a lot of smaller plugins [78:46] working quite well together. Um, all [78:49] under Jetack brand. [78:51] >> Yeah. [78:52] >> There's a lot of overlap as well though. [78:53] So for example, you can it's not [78:55] inconceivable to be in Jetack and [78:57] realize that you've somehow got to the [78:59] exact same space through a completely [79:02] different route. So you know just things [79:04] like that like having a having a unified [79:06] UI and also you know just curious things [79:09] like the fact that there's a whole com [79:11] sort of side to it where you know if you [79:14] want to view stats and things like that [79:16] you might have to be logged into a dot [79:17] account. It's very it's not [79:20] straightforward. We're kind of used to [79:22] signing up to what feels like a bit of a [79:24] SAS product, if you know what I mean. [79:25] You sign up to the SAS product, you got [79:26] one login and the menu item is the same [79:29] for everybody and it's straightforward [79:31] to follow. Anyway, he takes all of that [79:33] and explains what his plan is. So, it's [79:36] definitely worth worth. [79:39] >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay, there we go. Um, [79:43] right. Okay, let's move on. Uh, [79:47] speaking of uh platforms that uh not [79:50] everybody [79:52] loves. [79:52] >> Oh, yeah. I don't know if anybody loves [79:56] beat up. [79:56] >> Okay. Yeah. Well, [79:57] >> let us know in the chat if you like [79:58] meetup.com. [79:59] >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Tell us in the chat if [80:01] you love me.com. Well, they got it looks [80:04] different. They've got a nice new shiny [80:06] coat of paint, but uh underneath it's [80:09] still the same. Um meetup.com, forget [80:12] all that. What we what we want to tell [80:14] you about is the event that's happening. [80:16] There's a couple of things to notice [80:17] this week. uh much of it tied to [80:19] WordPress 6.9. If on the 27th of [80:21] November you are looking for things to [80:23] do, there's a couple of things which [80:24] might be of interest to you. Uh so the [80:26] first one is uh Maruti M. I'm not sure [80:30] of Maruti's surname. Apologies. Um [80:32] >> Mahanti as you can see on the top right [80:35] because confusing interface. [80:37] >> Yeah, there you go. Mahanti. That's [80:39] right. Yeah, look, it's there and also [80:41] there. Okay, you're right. Um how to [80:44] prepare your WordPress site for [80:45] WordPress 6.9. I mean, it does what it [80:47] says on the tin. Is there anything else [80:49] to say about that? No. But [80:51] >> what's going on here? Do I get accept or [80:53] settings? What? Uh, [80:57] I don't know. Reject. [80:58] >> Reject all is the button you're looking. [81:01] Um, so there you go. That's happening um [81:04] at 10:00 a.m. GMT, uh, which is this [81:08] Thursday, the 27th of November. And [81:11] another one if you would be interested. [81:13] some chap Jonathan. I don't know. It [81:16] only says Jonathan B. I don't know who [81:18] he is. [81:19] >> On the top right it says Jonathan [81:21] Bosinger. [81:23] >> Oh yeah, it says it on the right. Yeah, [81:24] look. Uh oh, no it doesn't. It says [81:26] share a flyer. [81:29] >> One conspiracy. [81:33] >> Hiding Jonathan. [81:34] >> Yeah. Yeah, that's it. Every [81:38] That's hysterical. Uh Juan Mar and [81:40] Jonathan. Van Margarito and Jonathan are [81:43] doing um a developer hours 6.9 developer [81:46] updates, you know, to kind of get you in [81:48] the mood if you're a developer. Do you [81:50] want to mention anything? I can see [81:51] block bindings and interactivity APIs [81:53] under discussion. [81:55] >> Yeah, basically we just we decided to [81:56] run a couple of developer hours just [81:58] focusing primarily on the developer [82:00] updates that coming. So, we had one two [82:01] weeks ago where we covered um data views [82:04] and data form and the abilities API [82:06] that's on WordPress TV if you want to [82:08] check that out. And then this week we're [82:09] covering uh the blockbinding updates [82:11] that are coming and the interactivity [82:13] updates that are coming. So we'll have [82:14] some live demos, we'll have some code [82:15] walkthroughs. Uh so if this is something [82:17] you're interested in, you know, if [82:19] you're a developer and you want to work [82:20] with these things or you want to learn [82:21] what's coming in WordPress 6.19, you can [82:23] come and join us. If you can't make it [82:25] at the time, which I know the time is [82:27] difficult for a lot of folks in in sort [82:29] of the Western Americas, we are [82:31] recording this and will be on WordPress [82:32] TV a couple of days later. [82:34] >> Nice, nice, nice, nice. So, coming up [82:36] this Thursday at 12:00 p.m. [82:39] >> GMT as well. Okay. Right. [82:42] >> Um, we've got a piece here. Let me just [82:44] sort of go through I because we're very [82:46] short on time, I'm going to miss out the [82:48] AI piece if that's all right. Um, but [82:50] I'll quickly show it to you if you're [82:52] interested. So, apparently you can find [82:54] this on um on Jamie Marsen's blog, but I [82:58] found it on LinkedIn and didn't find a [83:00] link out to it. So, I'm just going to [83:02] mention it here. This is really curious. [83:04] Um Jamie is very pro- AI and um but I [83:09] think has had his um you know concerns [83:12] around it in the same way that everybody [83:13] else you know how will WordPress fit [83:15] into that landscape in the future? Will [83:17] it get to the point where uh WordPress [83:20] is basically obsolete because you can [83:21] just talk to an AI and it'll build you a [83:23] website. Well that that is having read [83:26] some materials recently that very much [83:28] is not the case. He's much more sanguin [83:30] about it. So go and check it out. It's [83:32] called Why I'm Now Convinced AI won't [83:36] kill WordPress. And you too can learn [83:38] all about the child that kicks him on [83:41] the plane uh repeatedly in the back. And [83:43] then couple of plugins. Let's end this [83:45] way. A few plugins that I have come [83:47] across during the course of this week. I [83:50] think they're new. Um if they're not [83:52] new, they're certainly fairly new. So [83:54] here's the first one. This is called [83:55] Design Set Go by uh Justin Neely. and [84:00] it's a a suite of blocks and um it's uh [84:04] it's really really new. It's got very [84:06] few reviews and what have you, but man [84:07] alive does he have a lot of blocks and [84:09] 47 [84:11] blocks. He's launching with all sorts, [84:14] you know, icons, modal triggers, [84:15] countdown timers, sliders, you you get [84:18] the idea. Maps, the usual array of [84:20] things. It's on the WordPress.org repo. [84:23] I don't know if there's a paid version [84:25] coming in the pipeline, but it's there [84:26] now. That's the first one. Uh where's [84:30] the second one? There we go. This is the [84:31] next one. Don't fully understand this in [84:34] all honesty, but let's just give it a [84:35] mention anyway. It's called the content [84:37] area block, and it says, "This block [84:39] allows you to add an additional content [84:42] area to a site editor template and store [84:45] the block output inside of a meta [84:48] field." Yeah. Okay. So far so good. And [84:51] I'm thinking, does this then allow me to [84:54] basically have two content areas inside [84:58] the UI of the block editor? And how does [85:02] that work? How do I know which one I'm [85:03] in and things like that? Anyway, there [85:05] it is. Does anybody want to guess how [85:08] that works or what that does? Do you [85:11] >> No, but I do want to install it after [85:13] this and check it out. [85:14] >> Yeah. Isn't that curious? Like just the [85:15] idea of two like I'm so used to it being [85:18] meta. you go and fill out that other [85:20] thing, [85:21] >> but having two I can really see examples [85:24] of where I would love that, but also I'm [85:27] kind of curious how how much I'd mess [85:30] things up. Anyway, there it is. It's [85:32] brand new version 0.1.0. [85:35] So, it's Oh, it's four four months old, [85:36] but it's new on my radar. And here's the [85:38] last block um which I wanted to mention. [85:41] Dynamic head. though that that plugin um [85:45] maybe because of the fact that it's [85:47] vague but uh we saw the same for Justin [85:50] Neilies. [85:51] >> Uh this plugin is 4 months old and it [85:54] has less than 10 in. [85:58] >> We saw the same for Justin Neil's [86:00] plugin. [86:01] >> It's it was at version 1.2 which was a [86:05] couple days old uh a couple weeks old [86:07] days old. Um so probably the 1.0 0 [86:12] release was a couple months weeks or [86:15] months ago and it still has less than 10 [86:18] installs [86:19] and that is a problem for the plug-in [86:22] repo. [86:23] >> Yeah. Yeah. [86:25] >> New plugins well enough. [86:26] >> Y [86:27] >> it's interesting like a show like this [86:30] you can't really spend the entire thing [86:32] but there is some part of me that would [86:34] love to do just a show about exactly [86:36] that. just like 10 minutes on a new [86:38] plugin, then another 10 minutes on [86:40] another new plugin, just have a little [86:42] poke around and see exactly what it [86:43] does. I'm not sure how engaging that [86:45] would be, but um anyway, thank you. [86:48] That's a good point. So, that was the [86:50] second one. And then the third one was [86:53] this one. Uh dynamic header and [86:54] navigation block themes. So, uh it [86:58] offers you the capacity to amend uh [87:01] things like headers and navigation and [87:03] things like that. So you can change the [87:04] the the the size whether it's sticky and [87:07] stuff and presumably it all works with [87:09] core blocks. That's all I've got really [87:12] about that one. So I'll link in the show [87:14] notes. [87:15] >> And was that it? Have we got everything [87:18] or Taco? I've got this I've got this [87:21] this one. Was that something you wanted [87:23] to mention or was that because we [87:25] >> Yeah. So basically this came up in our [87:27] conversation um before starting the [87:31] show. Uh, and it's all about it's a post [87:35] Mara wrote uh about the challenges that [87:38] she has living with an early adopter. [87:41] Um, [87:42] >> Yoast [87:42] >> of technology and [87:44] >> Yoast is definitely an early adopter of [87:47] pretty much anything he can get his [87:49] hands on. Um, so she describes a perfect [87:54] example of a doorbell that keeps ringing [87:57] for half an hour because it crashed. [88:01] head. [88:01] >> Um, [88:03] >> and so annoying. [88:06] >> Well, yeah. [88:07] >> 30 minutes. Yeah. Wow. [88:09] >> And I mean, stuff like that obviously [88:11] always happens when he's not at home. [88:13] Um, my wife could probably have written [88:15] a similar post because [88:18] >> although I'm not that early in things, [88:22] um, I do try to be at the forefront of [88:25] some of the technological advancements. [88:30] Um, and that doesn't always work out. [88:32] >> No, no, I can totally sympathize. I've [88:35] got a set of outside lights and I I say [88:38] the the G word, you know, the the Google [88:40] word. I use that phrase to trigger [88:42] Google and then I just say, "Turn on the [88:44] outside lights." And on come the outside [88:48] lights. 100% of the time those lights [88:50] come on. It doesn't matter many times my [88:53] wife says the exact same collection of [88:56] words. No, they don't come on. [89:00] And then the same thing turning them [89:01] off. So I'll have turned them on. I'll [89:03] come back in and say the exact sentence [89:04] in reverse like turn off the outside [89:06] lights and they go off reliably 100%. [89:10] Not [89:13] >> no idea. [89:13] >> Yeah. And so um that is partially a [89:17] problem because we've been training a [89:20] lot of voice recognition on male voices [89:22] only. So women and children will be uh [89:26] well [89:27] >> uh not be will not be recognized as [89:30] easily as male voices because of [89:32] training sets. Um which is a a problem [89:36] that well we see a lot in AI now where [89:40] the training sets have a real world [89:43] impact on their use. Um, but yeah, that [89:46] goes for little things like voice [89:48] recognition and um, yeah, stuff like [89:51] that as well. [89:52] >> I'm gonna like you've just given me some [89:54] ideas. I'm now going to deliberately [89:57] come up with some things which are [89:58] really annoying like have I don't know [90:01] just like a speaker come on uh and just [90:04] be un turn offable just when I'm not as [90:08] soon as my car gets a mile away from [90:10] where I live just play loud music or [90:12] something [90:15] like that hide a speaker in a locked [90:17] cupboard or something. Uh [90:19] >> I think there's other ways to end your [90:21] marriage, Nathan. That's what you're [90:23] looking for. Yeah. Oh, no. It's It's [90:25] definitely going to come back, though. [90:27] I'll I'll have to uh you know, there'll [90:28] be there'll be retribution, but I love [90:30] stuff like that. [90:32] >> Keeps me going. Um, okay. So, I think [90:34] that's it. [90:36] >> It's a fun post to read. Um, it's very [90:38] recognizable for a lot of people, I [90:40] guess. [90:40] >> Thank you very much. I'm just seeing if [90:42] there's any more comments that have come [90:44] in. Not really, except you sa Thanks for [90:47] the plug. Oh, okay. So, thanks for the [90:49] plug-in shout out. Oh, that was your [90:51] plugin, was it? Oh, okay. That's great. [90:54] What? How great. I'm pleased that we [90:57] mentioned it. That's lovely. New plug-in [90:59] show would be cool indeed. Benny, first [91:02] test the plugin to see if it's worth the [91:04] mention. Okay. [91:05] >> Okay. Maybe I'll [91:07] >> actually I think it's equally fun if you [91:10] test it for five minutes and it's most [91:12] definitely a waste of time. [91:15] >> Okay. I could make [91:16] >> much more. Yeah. Yeah. [91:20] Nathan is [91:21] >> but Nathan is too nice for that. [91:23] >> No, I can I can [91:24] >> I'll join you on the show. Don't worry. [91:26] >> I had this thing when I was a kid and it [91:28] was called the hardware hammer and it [91:30] was like this massive really massive. It [91:31] was about two foot three foot long [91:34] hammer but it was made of the most like [91:37] foamy foam and it and so you could smack [91:41] the heck out of everything and it was [91:43] like just gently patting it. And so I [91:45] used to get my anger out on all of my [91:47] technology with the har you stupid [91:50] thing. You and everybody should have a [91:54] hammer for moments when the plugin [91:56] doesn't do what you want. Okay, maybe [91:58] there's a thing. Maybe we need to do [91:59] that. That could be hilarious, right? [92:01] Okay, that is I believe it. Uh, thank [92:04] you. Oh, there we go. I wanted to get [92:07] rid of that and I wanted to get rid of [92:08] that. Okay, that's it. Thank you for [92:11] joining us. Thank you. Firstly, let's go [92:13] around the panel. Thank you to be for [92:15] joining us. [92:15] >> Well, thank you. Yeah, [92:16] >> thank you to Jonathan whose face just [92:19] kept kind of going away. Uh, just to [92:22] sort of like emphasize the point, let's [92:23] just do that. [92:25] >> Where did he go? Yeah, [92:29] >> I can't do what I want to do on a public [92:31] broadcast. [92:33] Jonathan, [92:33] >> you need a hardware hammer. Uh, so thank [92:37] you to Jonathan being a good sport and [92:39] having his head covered up lots of [92:40] times. And thank you to Taco for joining [92:43] us as well. And thank you to you if you [92:46] came into the comments and you put [92:47] something down in writing. That's great. [92:49] Apart from you, bot on Twitter. Stop it. [92:53] >> Stop it. It's not clever. Nobody thinks [92:55] you're clever. [92:56] >> It counts as a view, Nathan. It counts [92:58] as a view. [92:58] >> Oh, yeah. Okay. All right. That's great. [93:01] We'll take it in that case. Um, okay. In [93:03] which case, we will probably say [93:05] goodbye. We need to do the hands. [93:07] >> So, okay. Give us your hands. Let's give [93:09] it a wave. Give a smile. Thank you. [93:12] We'll be back this time next week. Stay [93:14] safe. Have a good week. [93:16] >> It's good to see you, Taco. [93:17] >> Yeah. [93:17] >> Thanks, [93:19] See you. See you later, John. [93:20] >> Stick around if you want to have a chat. [93:22] You three. That would be quite nice. [93:23] We'll see you in a sec. Bye. Bye. Bye. [93:24] Bye. Bye. Bye.  ## 📺 Video ![](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY) --- # 📄 Full Transcript *Auto-generated from YouTube captions · timestamps roughly every 30 seconds · [watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAPs2_9hOeY)* **[00:04]** It's time for This Week in WordPress episode number 356 entitled Erasing Jonathan's Face. It was recorded on Monday the 24th of November 2025. My name is Nathan Wrigley and today I'm joined by Beet Powley Hack, by Taco Donsshot, and by Jonathan Bosinger whose face we erase many many times. We start the podcast on a sad note, marking the passing of a dedicated WordPress contributor. So, we spend a few sad moments talking about that and then we **[00:36]** get into WordPress 6.9 and the vast majority of the episode is talking about what's coming in WordPress 6.9, all of the different pieces in terms of accessibility, all of the different bits and pieces in terms of performance. There's loads of content helping you through this phase, but also there are some live events that we talk about, one of which Jonathan is organizing about what it is that you can do to get yourself aligned, getting ready for the new upcoming update. And then we get into a few different bits and pieces **[01:06]** around the community. We talk about the fact that Jetack has got a new person at the helm. I did a podcast about that. There's a whole bunch of new blocks, block suites, which have launched over the last few weeks as well. So, there's absolutely loads in this episode and I really hope that you enjoy it. This episode of the WP Builds podcast is brought to you by GoDaddy Pro, the home of manage WordPress hosting that includes free domain, SSL, and 247 **[01:36]** 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% off new purchases. Find out more at go.me/wpuilds. Hello, hello, hello, hello. I just did a really satisfying stretch. I don't know if anybody else was stretching whilst the uh past the music was on. It was very enjoyable. Uh we are on episode **[02:08]** number 356 of this week in WordPress. As you can see I am joined by a really nice panel of people. We've got well everybody is a is a returning visitor and I have to say that I'm very glad. This feels like uh one of the one of the bigger weeks in WordPress in terms of you know what core is bringing out and the you know people getting aligned and learning what 6.9 has to bring in more so than ever before just because of the length of time it has been since the last update which is you know in an unusual cycle at the moment. Anyway, we will get into that in **[02:39]** a moment. The uh the first thing that I need to do though is just sort of go around the houses and um say hello to everybody. So let's go let's go let's go there first which is bigot bigot pow hack. Yeah, thank you, Taco. That's Oh, look. Everybody's a pro. Um, how you doing, Big It? >> I'm very well. Thank you very much for having me. Yes, >> you're so You're so welcome. I am really glad to have you back. I'm going to read Big. It's uh Oh, I've already spotted that T taco looks like he's written me a poem. Okay, we'll get to that. Um, Big's bio reads as follows. Bigot is the **[03:09]** creator of Gutenberg Times. We will see that. Uh, site with news around the WordPress block editor and beyond. She is the host of a podcast uh sorry of the podcast Gutenberg Change Log which discusses what's new in Gutenberg and more with special guests. She's been contributing to the WordPress open source project since 2014. And in 2021 she closed her web agency after 20 years and now works as a developer advocate for Automatic. Very nice. Thank you for joining us. Really appreciate it. And uh **[03:42]** down there there's um there's T Jonathan. It's so easy to get that wrong. Yes, if you just point in any direction, you one of them will be wrong. Uh it's Taco. Hello, Taco. >> Hi. Nice to have you with us. Okay, so I haven't read Taco's bio. It only just came into my view. So, here we go. >> This should be good. >> Okay, here we go. Taco. So, this is what he wrote. Taco brings ideas to life with calm. Oh, it rhymes. Okay. Okay. All right. So I've got to do it correctly. Taco brings ideas to life with calm and **[04:13]** care. He builds in tech and finds new paths everywhere. At home in vegan, he's feel steady and bright. His family gives him strength every day and every night. I added a word in there. He follows this week in WordPress to sh to stay sharp and on track. W builds keeps him updated. A secret life hack from WordPress to Amelia. He follows his drive. Cintclass smiles and says, "Your spark keeps dreams alive." That's so nice. **[04:43]** >> Yes. Yeah. Well, that had a that had a flavor. >> There is a reason for this. >> Okay. >> Um, we've just entered the center class period, which is a Dutch holiday. >> Yeah. >> And one of the traditions connected to it is that you write poems in rhyme. >> Oh. >> So, I figured for each other. Um, so I figured I would do one for this occasion as well. >> Well, you're I'm Thank you very Yeah, exactly. Can I just ask is center class would that map to kind of like advent is **[05:15]** it a thing which begins and then there's a countdown and then it kind of ends at some point or what what is that? >> It's like Dutch Santa Claus. >> Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. But it's a but it's in the calendar. >> Yeah, it's December 5th. >> Okay. Okay. So interesting. There you go. couple weeks leading up to it um for the kids. So, it's specifically a kid kids holiday. >> Well, I'm not going to say anything about Santa Claus just in case there happens to be somebody watching and there's, you know, children around. **[05:46]** >> Oh, Santa Claus comes to Germany on December 6th. >> Oh, okay. Okay. >> Two countries in one day. Can you >> Yeah. 25th of December uh in my neck of the woods and down a chimney uh as well. So, uh, you know, he's got all sorts of different techniques by the looks of it. And over here, the last one joining us on the uh over there. Oh, look. Everybody's a pro. Um, is Jonathan Bosinger. Hello, Jonathan. >> Hello. >> I've got to say I'm very grateful particularly to Jonathan because we were supposed to have Seth Goldstein uh **[06:16]** joining us today. He unfortunately um is unwell and so Jonathan stepped in at the very last moment. So, I'm very appreciative of that. I'm really really happy to have you with us. But, uh get well soon, Seth. I hope all things are, you know, on on the mend. So, here's Jonathan's bio. Jonathan is a developer, educator, writer, and open source advocate from Cape Town, South Africa. After a 20-year career in software development, he found his calling in developer relations in 2020 and hasn't looked back. Jonathan is passionate about supporting developer communities, **[06:47]** building awesome developer tooling, and creating engaging educational content for developers. and we will be featuring something that Jonathan has put together during the course of this week. So that is our little panel. Thank you from me to all of you. Really appreciate it. We uh we of course have like the comment thing going and the show is kind of boyed along very much so by the comments. So if you wish to to add your comments and you know if it's word pressing I think we've yet to have like a comment. Oh, as soon as I say this I'm **[07:18]** going to regret it. I don't I I don't think we've yet had a comment which was like on un on unput on the screenable if you know what I mean. Everybody that seems to watch the show seems to have, you know, the right ethics about it, like propelling the show forward and thinking about nice things to say. So keep it like that. We'd appreciate it. The only weird thing is whenever a comment comes in from Twitch, the Twitch platform, it's always just totally off message. Just clearly Steve B that loves gaming or something like that and just has hijacked our thread. But if you want to um make use of comments, there's a **[07:50]** couple of probably the the easiest way to do it is to go here. So Taco is currently sporting the look what a pro. wpbuilds.comlive. If you head over there and you are on a desktop, then the the embedded YouTube comments are on the on the right of the video below the video on a mobile device. But if you don't want to be logged into a Google account, that's fine. There's a little box inside the video itself which says live chat top right I think it's a black button and you don't have to be logged into **[08:20]** anything and none of that data is kept. It just comes in as a comment and your account is there is no account. You don't create an account. It's just live during the the course of this. So anybody that wants to make a comment please do. And here are some here are some comments that people have made. Uh Courtney Courtney joining us. I'm guessing that's a cup of coffee or something just sort of illustrating that. Uh >> cheers Courtney. >> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. >> Cheers. on the water. Never mind. Um, and then gets a reply from Philly Codehound. Hello. Oh, I think that might **[08:50]** be Seth. I'm not sure if it's you, Seth. Get well soon. I hope that you're doing all right. That is >> a a thank you for joining us in the comments. That's absolutely lovely. Uh, Reese W is joining us saying, "Good afternoon from a Chile Newton Lillows. The local shop had Easter Easter eggs." What? like did you go back in time today? What happened there? You're way off. Uh D so fond says code. Well, that's Seth we now know. So, thank you very much. And I think there might be a **[09:22]** bunch of comments just sort of going backwards and forwards amongst the various people. No. Oh, here we go. No comments that are on honorable on screen. Challenge accent. >> Oh, Marcus, don't do it. Don't give into that. >> We know you began. Yeah, we know where you Well, we don't know where you live. Um, it's in Florida, but do you remember Tom and Jerry cartoons? I don't know if you watched those when you were a kid, but Tom and Jerry very often they would have this like devil on the shoulder and on the other side would be the angel. Go with the angel, Marcus. **[09:52]** >> Don't Don't give in to the devil. >> Out of context, that sounds like a really nasty wish to wish, you know, with the angel. >> It does. It does. Yeah. Uh, he says he's grateful to us all for the show. Uh if there's any that pop up, I will bring those on in a moment. Uh but whoever code of joy joy of code is, they're they're taking they're taking a few moments to go and do the laundry. >> Oh, is it? Oh, of course it is. Joy of WP, I see it there now in >> he's going to go and do laundry. We'll see you in a bit, Bob. Yeah, nice. Nice **[10:24]** to have you with us. Right, let me get rid of those bits and pieces off the screen and we'll get stuck into what it is that we're trying to do today. Yeah, thank you. >> Um right, so this is us wpbuilds.com. If you fancy keeping update with what we do, just stick your email address in this field and uh you'll receive two emails. One when we push this out, we repackage this uh for a podcast audience. That's sort of why we do it. It's for the podcast episode in the morning. So you'll get an email alert sort of early tomorrow morning to say that it's come out and you can listen to **[10:54]** it in your car while you're doing the vacuuming, whatever. And um so you'll get that and then on a Thursday when we put out a podcast episode, you will get that as well. Sorry. Can I just I assume you meant listening to in your car all while you're doing the vacuuming. Not >> Well, I suppose you could be vacuuming the car. >> We're not driving whilst vacuuming the car. That's totally off piece. No, we're not doing that. Um that was the on that was the unputonable message whilst vacuuming the car and driving. No. Um so **[11:26]** yeah, so put your email address in there and we'll send you one when we do an episode on a Thursday as well. you can get to the the sort of archive of the bits and pieces that we produce if you click in the little archive thing here. Then um then here we go. And you can see that the most recent episode that I did um was all about Checkout Summit. I don't know if you've heard about this, but next year in um in Sicily, I want to say where is it? Is it Palmo? Ive I've actually forgotten, but certainly it's in a resort. So, if you're into Woo **[11:56]** Commerce or e-commerce more generally and um and you'd like to hang out with some like-minded people, go and check out that episode. There is a a real world event happening in what could only be described as a resort. So, you could definitely combine holiday making with going to a WordPress or Woo Commerce event. So, check that out and uh you can find out more about that. And then we have our Black Friday deals page. If you go to wpbuilds.com/black, uh we we got a few sponsored slots that you can see at the top, but basically if **[12:28]** you start to scroll down, these are all um listings that people have sent to me. Um there's no affiliate links or anything like that. Um but there's 300 and something there at the minute. So there's Yeah, there's there's absolutely loads. It all goes a bit mental. Um, so if you click this, >> yeah, you're not going to be able to cope with scrolling it because I deliberately so that because in the beginning when I put it out, I had it in the order that they were submitted and I thought, well, that's not fair. So now every hour it randomizes and so so which makes it fair, but equally it makes it **[12:59]** like really hard to figure out what's going on. So So if you >> like you're shopping in your favorite store around >> that's exactly what it's like. So, if you go in here, click the little search and filter thing. Um, and then you can either search for a product name or the the people who submitted them submitted the categories that they felt it would, you know, most represented. So, you can go and do it in that way. And then also, if you um if you would like to add your own deal, it's totally free. Just you just click that button, fill out a form, and I'll stick it on, you know, as soon as I get round to it, usually within an **[13:31]** hour or so. Um, and there's just loads. And my my inbox is mental at the moment. Not just because of these deals coming in to go on this page, but I mean it must be the same for you, right? Every single thing of any description that ever got hold of my email address is currently emailing me. I'm getting honestly since we started this show, I've had 15 emails. 15 >> emails in the last like eight minutes or so. It's absolutely insane. So I I don't **[14:03]** know what to do. So, if you're in the WordPress space and you fancy sort of getting away from all that, I probably have it here. Um, and it'll show you, for example, you know, how much they claim they're knocking off the price, um, and what have you. So, you know, go and have a look WP. >> I saw a couple at 100%. So, >> yeah. So, so the weird thing about that is because of the way I set up the form and I had to have a number in that field, some things are like a it's like free for a year and so I don't really **[14:33]** have a perfect way of encapsulating that. So, yeah, you're right. There are a couple which are a bit weird like that, but I don't know how to sort of define that otherwise. But mostly the number the number works. So, you know, there's loads of money to be had off and I know lots of people do that. I mean, we talked about this before the show, but I can offer progress planner at 100% discount. >> Okay. >> It's a free product. Yeah. Yeah. >> Well, yeah, it is. Yeah. In the end, you'll end up you'll end up paying people to uh to have it. It's like, you **[15:05]** know, 100% off free. It's still free. >> Uh so, go check that out. And uh yeah, you know, that's quite nice. And this is the interview that I did with Rulfo um Milogi all about um the the summit which is happening next year. So you can check that out. Episode 446. Righty ho. Let's get into the bits and pieces. Um anybody want to talk about Black Friday before we move on? Just you know in case they do probably not. No. No. Okay. All right. >> Right then. So um I was going to lead in **[15:36]** a different way but quite rightly I was um Taco requested that we could put this item first. So I'm sort of going from jovial and banter which I had in my you know in my voice a moment ago to exactly the opposite and I hope that I managed to do that with the taste and decorum which it requires. Um so this is a piece there are several pieces around on the internet at the moment but this is a piece which taco has selected it's word camp Asia 2026 website and um the piece is entitled in loving memory of zeal **[16:06]** thakar now I confess I don't uh have any experience of working with zeal or meeting zeal in any way shape or form but looking at the list of things which um zeal had been up to in the more recent past a real kind of titan in that part of the world of the community. Somebody that was really busting a gut to to help drive the community forwards. But um I don't know Taco if you want to take it from here. Perhaps you've met Zeal or know a little bit more about the story. **[16:38]** >> Uh I uh was lucky enough to meet her at work camp in 2023. Uh and then um over the course of the the years after online and at online events a couple of times um like you said uh a force for good very active in the WordPress community and uh at just 24 years old which is **[17:09]** part of the youth that we really want to get into WordPress. Um, and it would have been fantastic if we'd had her for many more years in our community. Uh, unfortunately, uh, there was an an incident, uh, she she was unwell while on stage talking about Word Camp Asia, um, at a word camp uh, word camp. And yeah, uh despite **[17:41]** uh more professors doing CPR and and trying to save her life, that was unfortunately uh yeah, >> that didn't happen. So, she passed away in the in the community that she loved and was very active in. >> Yeah, I s there's no there's no nice way of sharing this news, is there? there's only sorrow really. But um >> but um it's amazing that you know in **[18:11]** that short space of time, a very young life that in that short space of time so much had been achieved in a project that was obviously very very meaningful to her. Um and you know I guess I guess my condolences would just go out to anybody that knows her or is affected by this. It's uh it's brutal and you know for it to happen in such a in such a public way as well is uh oh it's yeah hard to hard to cope with. I don't know if anybody else has anything to add to that. **[18:45]** No. Okay. In which case um unfortunately life always as always has to move on. And uh I hope you'll forgive us if at some point we draw a line and become our sort of entertaining selves and jocoul selves again. But um yeah, like I said to anybody that knew Zeal or indeed was present at that moment when uh when things occurred at word camp sur uh commiserations and uh yeah there is at least a testimony there. You know something great was achieved in such a **[19:16]** short space of time. >> Yeah. And I saw there was already um a mention that she will be added to wordpress.orgmbers /members >> uh which is the page that lists uh those in our community who've left us too early. Maybe maybe a way to round this off is if I just read the last few paragraphs from the uh from the Word Camp Asia piece. The link will be in the show notes if you want to follow this up, but it says it's entitled Remembrance. The loss of someone so **[19:46]** bright, talented, and full of promise is deeply painful. Her passion for learning and her desire to help others realize WordPress's potential defined her contributions. She found fulfillment in empowering others to explore what WordPress offers and her collaborative spirit touched countless lives. Zeal's legacy will live on through the community she's built, she built, and the countless contributions she made to WordPress. Our thoughts and prayers are with Zeal's immediate family, friends, and all who knew and loved her. And like I said, there are various articles that **[20:17]** you can find online which say more or less the same thing. But uh always very painful when somebody in the community which you thrive in uh passes away. So okay. >> Y >> right. Okay. On that note we will move on and I would imagine it would be uh you know app propo to carry on as normal uh if that's all right with everybody else. So here's another piece which I'll just mention. and the WordPress foundation produced a piece uh you know it's very similar however this not just remembers zeal but it was a a piece **[20:48]** talking about the Kim Parcel memorial scholarship which Zal was a recipient of and it also goes on to mention Puja Dashri but uh given what's happened this week we will just leave it hanging there okay so let's turn our attention to something entirely different this time WordPress 6.9 I feel like the rest of this show is going to be basically dominated by this the the upcoming WordPress 6.9 release. In a normal cycle of events, we would we maybe wouldn't **[21:19]** have quite as much drop in at this one time because the period of time would be smaller between uh the last release and this major release. And so it's felt like over the last couple of weeks lots and lots has been ramping up. Lots of lots of pieces have been written about all of the different pieces that are dropping in, whether that's from an accessibility point of view, from a performance point of view. And be it, bless her, bless her life, decided to write a book. Um, here it is. It's called the WordPress 6.9 source of truth. And I don't know if you can see, **[21:51]** can you see my scroll bar? You can. Uh, look how tiny the scroll bar is on the right hand side. That kind of shows it, doesn't it? It's massive. Um, there's so many things dropping and so in order to make this more palatable for a show of this length and and scope, I asked Beerate just to sort of cherrypick some of her favorite, well, favorites probably the wrong word. Some of the bits that were most most impactful or most important to her. So, over to you. >> Well, thank you. Yes. Um, yeah, there's a lot of uh things to to go through. Uh, **[22:23]** and I actually picked my favorites and uh I I really love that we have new blocks coming to core uh especially the accordion block and the time to read uh block um as well as the math uh block and the term query blog. They are all uh new um and they actually enrich all the things you want to do with a blog. Um yeah, the accordion blog for your FAQs. Um the time to read is to uh had some major accessibility um overhaul. Uh so **[22:55]** it actually could go into core and it has a time to read is really helpful but the source of truth kind of stomped me a bit because it's 22 to 33 minutes in >> uh and it has a >> is that is that what this article is when you put in the is that what it said? >> Yeah. >> It's not it's way longer than that. Especially when you get to this picture and you spend a bit of time thinking what does that mean and if anybody's mass is up to **[23:27]** that but look at >> I like that. Yeah. I'm really happy that the math block is now really >> Yeah. Yeah. >> But that's just my my preference because I I've uh had math in school quite a bit and I wanted to actually be a math teacher >> but it turned out other ways. So I but that's a different story. So um those two things four things new blocks and then there's this uh stretchy text variation that comes in that had a um went through a quite a bit different um **[23:58]** interface but it's uh how you can transform your headline into a text that fills up the full screen or the full container that it's in. Honestly, about it was about four weeks ago, we had Steve Burge on this show and we were and we got into this and none of us knew what stretchy text was and so we were imagining this sort of fairly elastic, you know, text what we put inside. I don't know, you could sort of pull it out, but the the principle is just to clear it up for everybody. The idea is it occupi it occupies the full space **[24:31]** available. um which which I guess in many scenarios is exactly what you may need to deploy. You just want it to fill up the available space and not look justified left or right or what have you. Okay. >> Right. Or you want to have just a different um yeah font um design in there and then um and it actually does that when you type it in um and you uh transform it into stretchy text and type further. It it actually um kind of goes smaller smaller smaller smaller the longer it becomes. Yeah. So, it's kind of really interesting to see. Uh, but **[25:04]** it's also um totally responsive. So, if uh that text is on a mobile, it's um adjusting for that. Um so, it's um it's a really nice design tool um to have it u >> it's available for paragraph as well as for the heading block. Okay. And those who have custom blocks that are tex oriented, they can actually uh put it into a support for the black JSON >> and it's uh fit text equals true or something like that. Yeah, I think I **[25:34]** have it in there. Yeah. So, it's a yeah um more more things. Yeah. And I'm absolutely in love with the command pallet being anywhere because now I don't have to it's the you do control K and then a little um box comes up where you can type a command or say um go to site editor or add a block uh add a post or um the go to settings. You don't have to go through the whole menu to actually get to the page and that's really um **[26:06]** streamlining my my content creation. So, >> so I guess it's a bit like if you're a Mac user then it's like spotlight um you you hit a command and then but but but in the past the command palette for WordPress has been limited if I'm right I I don't make heavy use of it to be honest was it limited to like the post and page editor and things you know there was definitely the site editor as well okay but now it's more or less everywhere and it can certainly get you around inside the admin as well so okay that's >> and uh yeah plugins can now uh add also **[26:37]** um commands to it. So, um if they are not in a site editor, they could do that before, but now those plugins that are not um tied to the site editor can also add commands to it. So, um you can um yeah, people can get faster to the things that they want to do. >> Yeah. >> Yep. Okay. Anything else on that list again? >> Um well, and then it's um all kind of changes that are incremental, but um I also like the custom social icons that you can create. That's more for the developer part, but it's something you **[27:08]** can as a site owner can ask a developer to create you additional social icons um that are for your uh yeah u case. So social icons are the profiles for YouTube or Twitter or blue sky. Those are in core but you cannot have every social uh network or any network just put it in core. Yeah. So uh now what it what the core developers did was opening **[27:38]** it up for extensions. So you can so I I built a plugin where I added multiple podcast directory icons so I can compare them to that. that kind of yeah or um Justin Padlock did a um did a tutorial on the developer blog on how to do this and he added Kofi and other payment stuff or the uh movie database kind of icons. So depending on what the site is about yeah you can drill really down **[28:09]** into the um the social icons of your space. >> Nice. Very nice. Anything else? Yeah, for those who are still going for additional CSS, that's the okay, I can't do this with theme JSON and I just want to change one little thing in CSS. The additional CSS has been around for uh in WordPress quite a bit, but they moved it so people will search for it. And I want to kind of warn people, it's going to be it's in **[28:41]** the Eclipse menu of the sty uh the style um section in both sides. Yeah, we have style sections. I don't know why, but on two sides of u the editor, uh one is directly from the menu of the site editor and then the eclipse menu. Eclipse menus are the three button three dot menus. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Just saying. Yeah, it's a it's a technical term that I had to look up to here. >> I'm trying to find that here. Is it this one here? Additional CSS control moved. **[29:13]** Is that what you're talking about? >> Yeah. And that's Yeah. And that's where the places are to look for it. I I know that kind of will trip up a few people um that are site uh builders and so if they listen to it um they get a leg up on finding it. >> Lovely, lovely, lovely. >> I think the last one is more um about the video block because I really like that you can now have multiple subtitle tracks when you upload it. >> Yeah. So you can have a Korean track, **[29:44]** you can have an English track, a German track and you can manage that all through the interface there and then also display it. Uh that's really one of the power features now to get multilingual. So, in the past when you uploaded a because I had to do this for things like the page builder summit because we use video press and you have to you have to go into the you drop your video into the media library then you go into the block editor put it somewhere on the website and you're right you only had this one option um and it may be that you want to do it in I don't know **[30:15]** Spanish or Korean or whatever and now you've got the option to do that's that's very cool actually I didn't know that I missed that entirely. >> Yeah. So I'm kind of Yeah. And now you can do styling and of form elements in theme JSON. That's for all the theme builders out there. Kind of a big big sigh finally. Um, and it's not entirely yet for all the form elements, but it's a good start. >> Okay. >> And that's pretty much what I had selected for now. So, like I said **[30:46]** earlier, if you if you go to big, it's peace, which is called uh WordPress 6.9 source of truth. The link will be in the show notes tomorrow, but it's good times.com and, you know, go to one of the more recent posts and it will be there. Uh there's literally I don't know 50 maybe 60 different things that to look at here, which gives you some indication of the weight of this particular release. Um and there were just a few that Be has chosen, but you can see I'm showing on the screen. If you're not able to see what's on the screen, I'm just scrolling through a list of uh anchor tags which will take **[31:18]** you to a different part of the article and there's absolutely masses in there. So, please do feel free to go and check that out. Uh I'm gone big. It sounded like you had something else. Oh, I just wanted to mention it's um I I had the idea I needed to do everything that's in the block editor because sometimes that's hard for content creators to find, but there's also a ton of information available for developers and that's going to be on the bottom and are only linked or or only a few things are actually described and the rest are kind **[31:48]** of more developer notes to go to and that list is also quite long. Yeah. >> Yeah. There's another like 10 hours of 10 hours of content right there to go and look at. Um, we're going to concentrate on a few other bits and pieces related to this, but we're going to sort of move away from this more general approach into some sort of slightly more detailed approaches. Much of it we can't cover in detail because the articles that we're referencing are just technical deep dives and you will **[32:18]** have to What was that, Taco? >> And they're so long and so detailed. >> Yeah. Exactly. You just can't you can't pause it. So we'll just sort of highlight that it's there, give you an intuition of some of the bits and pieces that have been mentioned. Uh the first one just going to dwell here just for a moment to read out this text in yellow and then we'll go and show you where this actually ends up. This is uh Western Routers um website and he's got a piece which he released I don't know a week ago or so now called WordPress 6.9 performance landings. And as I said I'll **[32:49]** just read it out. WordPress 6.9 includes so many performance improvements. Scripts with fetch priority, increased inline CSS, minified theme styles, on demand block styles and classic themes, the template enhancement output buffer, and much more. And then he says, go and check out a field guide, which I will link to in the show notes again tomorrow. This is it. And it's it's it rivals your piece uh big. It's not quite as long, but uh it's pretty much there. And he goes into **[33:19]** basically the code for all of this. And so you can see this giant list of uh anchor tags which you can look at to uh figure out I don't know fetch priority support for scripts increased inline style limit uh load block styles on demand and classic themes some of the things that you mentioned and so much more but it's all there um I don't know if anybody wants to actually add anything into that something that they found curious or interesting if not I will just along >> yeah maybe good to know is that uh western's piece is very detailed but **[33:50]** like you said very technical whereas >> as always Bergage piece can be read by non-developers as well. Yeah, it's much more descriptive. It's much more accessible to uh non-devs >> and will give you that great overview of what's what's coming. >> Nice. Nice. >> And I would have said that if you weren't here, Bit. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Really like your writing every single time. And yeah, like you said yourself, **[34:20]** this is probably the most detailed or the longest piece you've ever done. >> Um, and it did take me about 20 minutes to read through. >> Yeah. >> But none of that feels boring. So, it's it's definitely worth a read if you're using WordPress day today. >> And the check is in the mail. That was very nice. Very nice of you. Uh, okay. >> Yeah. Isn't that lovely? So, okay. Okay, I notice I'm just going to pause briefly to just take a look at a few of the **[34:51]** comments. I don't know where we got to. There's not very many, but there's a few few people saying hello. Uh, and then Amber Hinds drops in, which is interesting given what we're just going to talk about. I'm so sorry, Jonathan. Uh, it does this. It just it it obliterates the person's face at the bottom. For the next 10 days, I'm going to be deleting triple emails. So, we're talking about Black Friday. Okay. But I do it so I can't do it too, so I can't complain. Um she says Amber goes on to say so sad about zeal as does um Seth **[35:23]** there as well. And uh Ree also chimes in and says 24 is no age. That's exactly right. Okay. Um Amber talking about time to read. She says time to read is kind of BS. Um so much impacts it abilities but also from styles, paragraphs, lengths include uh image inclusion, etc. It would be much better to show, and I'll just read what she says, the word count rather than minutes. Do you know that's interesting? You get an option in that block though, don't you? Wasn't there a word? Yeah, there was a word count as opposed to a time to read. **[35:55]** Yeah, I've always been a fairly sort of I've been medium to fast reader. Never like very very fast, but certainly not very very slow. And I've often found those things I I usually take off a couple of minutes. If it says 30 minutes, I'll probably manage it in 25 or something like that. So, it never quite jives, but I think the word count also, I don't know, there's something about that that would freak me out. If I saw it was 10,000 words, I'm I'm heading off. It's like 20 minutes. I could do 20 minutes. 10,000 words. I'm not sure. Sounds like an essay. Uh, so the beauty **[36:27]** of the time to read it. We had a similar conversation in the learn the learn WordPress courses. We used to have uh a percentage of people that have completed the course and we remove that because if that percentage looks massively high and it's something you're struggling with, you might think, oh well, everybody can do this and I can't. >> Yeah. >> So, I feel like time to read it just gives you a bit of okay, this is 30 minutes of my life, it's no big deal. >> If I see like 4,000 words, I'm no past. >> You know what's curious about it? I wonder I wonder how much like nobody has any metrics for this. I'm sure nobody can answer it. But anecdotally, I wonder how much of a put off it is as opposed **[37:00]** to a welcome in. Cuz obviously the intention is to give you some intuition as yes, I can manage this now, but I wonder how much of it ends up in no, I can't manage this now. And then you never get back to it. It's kind of curious, isn't it? >> Yeah. >> Well, if it doesn't have the timing, I'll just scroll down and see how long it is. And if if I estimate that I have the time to read this now, >> yeah, even if it's off by 50%. I will I **[37:30]** will still attribute some value to the time to read. >> Yes. Yes. I I do what I did a minute ago. I look at the size of the scroll bar and if the scroll bar is really tiny, then that's a bit of an indication to me. The other thing I do and I I don't know if anybody else does this. I have I have um I'm I'm currently using the Vivaldi browser and it's got this button inside the browser where you click it and it you know it just it called reading mode and uh you know there's extensions and all sorts of things that will do the same thing but **[38:00]** Vivaldi is it's right in the browser. You click the button and it just gives you the text and something about that makes even if it was like like way too long for me something about that means I'm going to embark on it. just the fact that it's black on white, the the images in some cases have gone. Certainly things like advertisements have been maybe pulled out and things like that. Menus might have disappeared. It's just the text itself that that helps me get over the hump of >> of reading those kind of things. >> Um yeah, Chrome has that too. Um I I **[38:33]** kind of but it opens in a sidebar, not in the whole browser. And for the time to read um I think that was that was one of the accessibility um improvements is that you now can display a range. Yeah. So it was 22 >> 23 to 32 minutes or okay that's interesting. So yeah >> yeah to kind of offset that. Oh if I'm not taking it. Yeah. >> Yeah. Do I know? >> Maybe you should ask some questions like did you have a drink last night? Uh if yes, we we're going to double the amount **[39:04]** of time that we have. >> Is this a technical piece? Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. How good are you with PHP? >> Are you English native? >> Yeah. >> Uh yeah, for sure. >> Yeah. So, what could already help is if you'd be able to sort of set an an average reading speed in your browser where I can say, look, in English on average I do so many words a minute, and I'll figure that out over time. Do you know that's twice as fast? >> That's genuinely a great idea. Like that **[39:35]** that should be a thing that the browsers ship with. There should be a a flag somewhere where you could say in the browser like somewhere inside of Chromium or whatever it may be. I typically read a 100 words a minute or whatever. That would be really great. And then the >> real great thing would be if the browser would detect it. >> Yes. Well, oh, so mo it detects scroll. Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah, I don't know if you if any of you have like an ebook reader. I have a Kindle and at the very beginning of every book, it does this process and so normally you it can **[40:06]** show you how many minutes is left in the chapter and what have you and it does exactly that. It for a few minutes it figures out how many times you're flicking through the pages and how many words that is and it it's it's really accurate. Um and uh and it gives you a real I mean it's just great. you know, how long before before I get in trouble for reading the next chapter is basically what I have to kind of figure out. And as expected, the Twitch meaningless comment drops in. **[40:36]** >> Thanks for that, whoever whoever wrote that script. Appreciate it. Uh Amber's back with a comment about that. The time to read plug-in accounts for images. Okay, great. Thank you. The block Oh, does it or doesn't? Yes, it does. the block doesn't which makes me think it's less accurate. Okay, so this is a a plugin versus the core block. All right, thank you very much. Um and then we have uh Aki Hammano. Hello, nice to have you with us. Y um there's a lot of discussion before shipping this block to core. The initial display is a range **[41:08]** view and the word count option is provided to and it's got truncated. I'll read it to mitigate accessibility concerns as much as possible. Isn't this great? We've got two people in the chat who would like like really on it with this. We got Amber with the accessibility side and we've got Aki on the developer side and we got Jonathan. Yeah, on it goes. Um, this is fabulous. I'm really enjoying it. So, yeah, it's there anyway. Make make use of it if you want. It's available to you uh if you want. I didn't know we'd have the uh the **[41:38]** time to read now. It'll be time to listen. We need that inside of a WordPress. How long was the section about the time to read? Uh, okay. Right. Anything else about that before we move on to the next bit? Okay. In which case, we will do just that. Let me pop it back on the screen one more time. This is big. It's Oh, no. Biggest piece we've done with apologies. So, here we go. We're back with Western. Um, WordPress 6.9 frontend performance field guide. As Taco said, is **[42:08]** complicated and what have you. Um, go check it out, but I'll link to it in the show notes, but lots and lots is the answer. I I I feel like I should probably read some of these things out rather than just be quite so clear. Okay, here we go. 6.9 is the second and final major release of 2025, including numerous improvements to the performance of loading pages on the front end. The reason I want to mention it and not just glibly move on is because the performance team, oh, what what a great thing that was making that team and how much we've all benefit benefited from **[42:38]** it. So, here we go. This is what they've been up to lately. Scripts. Improve script loading performance by adding support for fetch priority, printing script modules in the footer, and optimizing the emoji detection script. Styles. Optimize local, sorry, loading of stylesheets by loading block styles on demand in classic themes. That's actually really cool. Um, emitting styles for hidden blocks. Again, very cool. Increasing the inline style limit from 20 to 40K and inlining minified stylesheets in block themes. introducing **[43:10]** the template enhancement output buffer to implement optimizations previously impossible. And then there's a more section spawn WP chronic shutdown, eliminate layout shifts in the video block, fix RSS feed caching and so on. There's way more than that, but uh they were the high level item and uh yeah, great thanks to the performance team for amazing work. I I just I always do wonder how will they ever run out of things to make better? Is there gonna be a moment where they go, "No, we've done **[43:41]** done performance." It's >> for as long as there are developers adding new features, there will always be other developers improving performance. >> Yeah, I um I on a like on a pet project the other the other week um implemented view transitions and and I know that's bundled inside of the performance labs plugin. So, I just find that so great. I just I don't know what it is. There's just something super cool about navigating from one thing to another. And it doesn't I've just got it on its typical settings and it doesn't just do that sort of crossfade where one thing **[44:12]** sort of seems to just fade out and then come in. It does things like it it knows that the link you've clicked on the H1 now belongs up there and so it kind of it's almost like it's zoomed into place and it it's just cool. Um and very much like what the what the I guess the kids on mobile phones are expecting in their UIs these days with you know core animations in iOS and things like that. So anyway, the performance team doing great work. Anybody want to add anything before we move on? **[44:43]** Okay, in which case uh handy that Amber is in the comments. We've got uh Joe Doulson here having a chat with Joe tomorrow. I'm quite looking forward to that. Accessibility accessibility is what's under the the microscope now. Uh accessibility improvements in WordPress 6.9. Same rules apply. It's a very very long article. Um, the article itself isn't long, but it links out to a whole bunch of different things, if you know what I mean. So, uh, WordPress 6.9 brings extensive accessibility improvements across WordPress core and Gutenberg. I'm paraphrasing, so excuse **[45:15]** me. These updates include changes to administration, customization, login and registration, bundle themes, and the block editor. Uh and then in terms of core, the improvements to WordPress core include 33 accessibility enhancement and bug fix bug fixes which include numerous new or improved screen reader notifications, a complete update of CSS generated content to ensure no excess content is spoken and code changes to ensure proper semantics and improved focus management. Um, Amber, forgive me **[45:47]** because I'm not an expert when it comes to in in terms of accessibility. Um, I hope I'm not missing out anything important here. And then in terms of Gutenberg, Gutenberg changes has uh 40 44 accessibility fixes and enhancements, including the addition of new blocks and the block notes feature. There we go, Jonathan. There it was. The new block notes feature that have undergone accessibility reviews as well. And then there's a whole load of other things if you're curious that you can link to. **[46:17]** >> Should we just get into the notes thing right now whilst whilst before we forget about it? >> So in WordPress 6.9 uh we're in phase three of the Gutenberg project and the intention is to I guess the north star is Google Docs style um collaboration. the idea that you can collaborate and you know other people can log in and perhaps you'll be able to see the the cursor moving around and things that are highlighted will be visible to other people that is an incredibly hard technical challenge **[46:49]** given that we don't own the Google data centers for each WordPress website and notes is like a first pass at this I suppose really and it's the idea on a per block basis so you don't get to highlight a bit of a paragraph you making a note on the paragraph block, you can put a little note in the sidebar. Um, those notes can then be viewed by other relevant people with the correct permissions and they can be sort of assigned to people and they can be checked off as complete and those kind **[47:20]** of things and it's a really really nice first pass which doesn't require a great deal. I wouldn't have thought of server grunt or hosting, you know, hosting on a super duper web sockets enabled, um, you know, um, infrastructure. It's a little bit more low-key than that, but uh, Jonathan, was there more that you wanted to add? >> So, I'm probably not actually the best person to talk about this. Um, probably Bigot knows more about this than I do. Would that be correct, Bigot? >> I don't know. I don't know what you **[47:51]** know. >> I don't know. I don't know much. Um, so yeah, I I just I just mentioned it as part of the discussion I was having around some of the changes coming to to Gutenberg with the nodes feature. Uh, so began I think you have a better view of what's happen if you share. >> Well, the the notes are in Yeah. And WordPress core and they're coming uh as Nathan described um you you see little bubbles coming up and um on the right hand side the sidebar there's an additional sidebar. Um, we might run out **[48:25]** of stack uh room for how how often we stack the the sidebars, but >> yeah, >> the blog notes are in there or the the notes are in there. Um, so if somebody has access to a post, they can leave notes. So um any author can leave notes on on their own but every editor can leave notes on every author's uh post and an admin can leave notes everywhere. Um and um you can resolve them, you can **[48:57]** um open and reopen them and then they um yeah have little bubbles. You can thread them with replies. It's uh actually quite nice uh interface and you see in the block toolbar if there are actually um notes because there are some avatars uh uh appearing um if the sidebar is not open. So um how would you know that there are notes um that's one one thing. >> Yeah. So, >> so is it a little bit like the I don't **[49:28]** know, let's say for example, you've got Jetpack installed or something over at the top right, you get that green Jetack icon which is near very close to the publish button >> or or the update button or whatever it may be. Do do we get like a little speech bubble there or something saying like and that demonstrates okay stuff and does it have like a little like a little red nag or something like you might find in Google Docs? No, there were there were discussions about the redneck red nag uh not redneck redneck. >> They were they were entirely different **[49:58]** disc in >> but that's where my brain goes. Sorry I was in the south of America for quite a bit. >> And and um that they haven't find the right interface for that yet. >> Okay. So it's it's like it's like a sidebar, but it lives it's not like occupying space in another sidebar. No, like an accordion. It's got its own side. Yeah, that that is getting that has the capacity that sidebar to get very very busy, doesn't it? There's a **[50:28]** lot going on. But it feels like if you've got it if it's got its own generic sidebar and also I suppose if it gets invoked when you interact with the let's say the you know the the comment which is in the the editor itself then yeah anyway it's coming. uh you'll be able to make use of it in 6.9 in just a few short days and try it out for yourself. >> Um WordPress.com no VIP WordPress a couple of weeks ago released a post where and I don't know how they did it. I don't know what I mean presumably they were on the com infrastructure. I'm not **[51:01]** entirely sure but they they appear to have pulled off a fairly pretty much faithful um what's the word? faithful version of like Google Docs inside the block editor. >> Yeah, real time. >> I think there's probably a lot of heavy lifting. Um I'd be kind of curious to see if that turns into like a an enterprise level feature where you pay for some additional I don't know server somewhere which is holding holding the comments. Maybe a jetpack feature or something like that if you know what I mean. Well, I think the biggest part is **[51:32]** actually the server infrastructure because you need some web RT um kind of um socket thingy and that has on shared hosting definitely lag. So, you need a different infrastructure for that. Uh you can do it on any VPN um server hosting. Um they the um the plug-in it's actually uh the testing of the collaboration feature that will come. They're aiming for 7.0 zero. And um this is pretty much a a live testing. They **[52:03]** have a few things that are VIP only um section there, but um it's definitely um they have a new plug-in for that and um yeah. >> Yeah, it's a work in progress and you can check out. So Amber makes an interesting point. So she mentioned uh did we do that one already? Yes, we did. So sorry, Jonathan, your face just disappeared. Uh Amber says you can only have one note on any block though. We thought about having the accessibility checker flag issues on **[52:35]** blocks in this way but then no one else can create notes on that that block. Okay, that's interesting. Yeah, I hadn't really thought about that. So if somebody has already put a note on a block is the current implementation Amber is is what you're saying that that block is now it's allocation of notes is consumed um >> yeah okay good point but you can't start another thread about let's say I don't know there were two subjects covered in that paragraph okay that's an interesting point um and then maybe **[53:06]** that's work to be done and then Amber says it's sort of irritating that notes are block level also you can't have different notes on different parts of a sentence. Yeah, that was what I was trying to say. You know, in the Google Doc thing, you just highlight a word or something, don't you? But >> definitely out of scope for now. >> It's definitely >> I think this will Yeah, I' I'd think though that this will have a very positive effect on um the readability for posts in WordPress because now people will finally start writing shorter paragraphs **[53:37]** >> so they have more. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good point. That is a good point. And uh Akis popped up at just the right moment hopefully to assuage Amber's worries there. Inline level notes are planned for the future. And by that I guess Aki that you're meaning, you know, a bit of a paragraph or whatever it may be. So, so here's a curious example, right? So, for this show, I put together some show notes and I cannot do them in the block editor, which would be the perfect place to do **[54:08]** them. We're talking about WordPress. I create a post in WordPress so that all so I I've already created the post. All of the links are in there, but it it would be a total hot mess. So I this week it went into a Google doc. This show could easily skip that step entirely. Um and maybe now with the with the notes feature, maybe that'll be enough actually because typically we don't have too many people commenting on one particular inline bit. So yeah, we'll wait and see. Um, and Amber says, **[54:39]** "Good point, Taco." I can't make that one go away. There it is. There you go. You should photoshop that. That's a good one. Good point, Taco. >> I will I will say this. We might Sorry. We might not have, you know, Google levels of collaboration yet, but I can controlV a link and paste it over to some text. So, >> yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> You can't do that in Google Docs. >> No. No. That's true. Oh, and that messes me up every single time that I'm in Google Docs. >> Yes, >> especially the fact that it's control K and the command pal. It's control K. **[55:10]** >> Links are rubbish in Google Docs. Like, it's way superior in in the block editor. I maybe it is like I I don't know why they haven't figured that out. Maybe their typical user isn't doing links. It's just text, you know, they're writing. >> Well, my favorite my favorite thing about that is even GitHub allows you to to control via link and then it turns it into a markdown link. So, even GitHub figured that out. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Come on, Google. You've got billions. Do the links, right? Uh, okay. So, that was the um accessibility piece. Um, in terms of **[55:41]** that, Amber, if there's anything that we missed, uh, please let us know. I mean, really, I'm just pointing everybody in terms of Joe's piece here, accessibility improvements in WordPress 6.9. You can go and check. I think where you asked are we ever running out of performance optimizations. We can ask the same question for accessibility improvements and Jonathan's uh reply is still valid. As long as developers create code, >> yeah, >> we will have accessibility improvements because **[56:12]** >> unfortunately too many developers are lacking accessibility knowledge. >> Do you know what though? like the the more that WordPress does in this regard, the so this is this is going to sound wrongheaded because I'm not advocating that people willfully don't know what they need to do in terms of accessibility, but the more heavy lifting that WordPress core can do to make that job easily available and right there at the po, you know, so you're in a paragraph or you've uploaded an image or what have you, the more that the **[56:43]** block editor can do to sort of say, hang on, this bit needs doing before you progress to the next step. the the less likely those things are >> um going to be wrong. So yeah, >> at user level for sure, >> right? Right. Yeah, exactly that. Yeah, >> developer level it's slightly different. Although code style and stuff like that >> uh really do help >> as well. >> Yeah, thank you. A good clarification point. Okay, so that was that and then I'm going to move on to here. So we're over I was going to mention this anyway, **[57:13]** but Jonathan's joining us uh so he might as well take it over. It's uh what's new in Gutenberg 22.1. Let's just do give it the scroll bar test. It's pretty big. It's still pretty big. Um and because I knew Jonathan wasn't going to be on, I didn't highlight anything. What I did say to Jonathan prior to the call was uh pick the bits that you are most intrigued about that are dropping in Gutenberg. So over to you Jonathan. What are you in what do you want to mention from this? >> So the first big thing is the new tabs **[57:44]** block. Um and and one of the main reasons I want to highlight it is because the tabs lock was actually something that was added to Gutenberg by uh Seth Rubenstein from Pew Research. Um it's something that they developed internally for their customers and then they brought it over to core. Um and I just think it's one of those really cool stories of like you know an external company, an external agency finding a solution that works and putting it in. So you can now have a tabs block that you can pop in your posts, your pages, your templates. You can add tabs. Uh you can add content within those tabs. The **[58:14]** tabs can have styling, different colors, different backgrounds. You can also, and the video doesn't show this, you can also add a tabs block within a tabs block. >> So you can have tab one and then tab section. And you can kind of get crazy. I don't know how far it goes. >> All the way down. >> The stone do this. Yeah. It's a really cool example of what's possible with this whole, you know, collaboration with open source environment. So, do check that out. >> May I just ask a quick question? So, in the in the very short video that we're **[58:44]** watching, this is 33 second video where you can see, you know, the bare essentials of what you've got to do and uh you add a tab, you can create some paragraph text. Are there constraints upon what can go in the tab? So, we can see paragraphs. Would I, for example, be able to put, I don't know, images? >> I I don't to be honest. I >> I think it's just possibly a paragraph and a header. I'm not sure 100%. Okay. I think it's in the in the notes >> about what can be added. >> Okay. >> And the other thing to point out, I'm glad you've zoomed in there. If you've got Gutenberg installed on your **[59:15]** WordPress site, you do need to enable the um experimental block setting to see this block. So, it won't just be enabled by default. So, it's currently an experimental phase. Obviously, all of the uh Gutenberg versions that come out between major WordPress releases, you need to have the plug-in installed to try them out. Um, so that was that >> nice. And then the other one that I thought was really cool was the HTML block now supports JavaScript and CSS within that HTML. >> They're very cool. >> That's so wild. >> Yeah. >> Right. Like as a developer thinking about the concept of having CSS and **[59:46]** JavaScript inside essentially a JavaScript block, it all just works. It's all just magical. What I also like about this is if we talk about, you know, we were talking about additional CSS earlier. One of my biggest pet peeves as a developer working on any project where I join the project sort of halfway through or pick it up from someone else is when you've got 700 different places where additional CSS has been added or additional JavaScript has been added >> and now you have to hunt down all these places. >> So I love the fact that additional CSS for example is in the editor where you can find it. >> If you've got a custom HTML block and **[60:18]** you need some custom CSS and JavaScript for it, it's in that block. It's part of it. So you don't have to go hunting around finding it out. Um, so that's just a really cool like, you know, as a as a developer, it excites me to see these things coming to blocks and coming to coming to Core. >> Because I want to try and be accessible. I'm just going to describe what we've just talked about. And that is that um there's let's imagine you're in a paragraph or something like that. The on the toolbar, there's an edit code button. And when you click that edit code button, you invoke a modal. And the modal has, I think it was three choices. **[60:48]** Uh, yeah, three choices. HTML, CSS, JavaScript. you put it in whatever it is that you want to do. I don't know, you want to change the H tag to something else and then click update and then it's done. And so of it lives inside the it's in a modal popup within the block itself. So it's right where the content is which is kind of cool, right? Sorry, Jonathan. >> No, no, all good. And then the last thing I just wanted to mention is going along with going along with the notes we mentioned earlier, there are a whole bunch of bug fixes for notes that are coming through in this in this new **[61:18]** version. Um, so you know that's one of the big focuses right now. So it's cool to see some of these things coming through. Uh, so I think if you scroll down towards the bottom there just below their collabor collaboration. >> There we go. >> So a whole bunch of fixes for for the block stuff. >> Um, so yeah, it's just it's just cool to see you know we've we've been talking about collaboration for I don't know how many years now. >> Yeah. >> Um, and it's cool to see it happening. It's cool to see the things coming. So yeah, if you want to be at the cutting edge of what's coming to the block editor, install the Gutenberg plugin, enable these experimental features, go **[61:49]** and play with them, go and test them. Uh most of the stuff that's being shipped in Gutenberg between now and whenever 7.0 comes out will probably eventually get merged in 7.0. So it's a good way to keep up to date with what's coming uh and start start influencing it and start giving your feedback as to how these things work. >> Yeah. And there's absolutely loads here. So, for example, just on the collaboration piece, there's must be what 18 or something there. Most of them bound to the the notes feature that we've just been describing. Uh, if memory serves, I think we're on release candidate 2 at the moment. I could be **[62:22]** wrong by a day or two about that. Um, yeah, so we're on release candidate one, two, sorry. Um, meaning that we're fast closing on the official date, 2nd of December, I want to say. So, you know, if you've got any burning issues, now is the time to uh to bring them to people's attention. But, uh hopefully within a 10 days or so from now, we'll have the uh the brand new version of WordPress in everybody's hands. I think Oh, no. I was going to say I think that was all the 6.90 stuff, but I don't think it is. Uh **[62:52]** okay, so this is a little beyond my pay grade, and it's also something for some reason I haven't really paid all that much attention to. And and we have Aki in the comments. Um, so this is uh over on the repository website. Uh, so it says core contributors prepare to iframe the post editor in 7.0 prompting backward compatibility concerns. Let's ignore that last bit for the moment, the backwards compatibility concerns. Let's just focus on why you would even want to do this. So my understanding is it's **[63:22]** just a it's just a neat simple way of isolating let's say admin CSS from the editor. Is that literally it? Is it as simple as that or am I missing some major thing? Nobody knows. >> It's essentially as simple as that. >> Okay. Yeah. Great. Yeah. >> So that that horrible experience you get where you go into the block editor and everything is wildly different because there's just a whole range of other CSS that you can't quite figure out where it is. Um and so when you go onto the front **[63:55]** end you've got this uh difference as you probably know uh iframes kind of little containers. They they live in their own little universe if you like and so the CSS can't be injected into it. Now so that all seems good right? In fact, that seems like why didn't we do this like a decade or more ago? And um and so that I guess is something, but the the technicalities of it mean maybe it couldn't have happened in the past. And we've got Aki in the comments, but I'll just read a few bits and pieces out **[64:25]** here. So it says it's a change aimed at modernizing the editing experience and reducing interference from admin styles and third party scripts. The plan outlined last week by Aki uh in a developer note which will be linked to in the show notes. transition begins in a few days time and then it explains the technicalities of how that works with API version two or lower. Uh these changes are intended to prepare developers for the switch in full coming in seven. So 6.9 no that's this is just really for **[64:57]** developers. So nothing is changing in 6.9. Blocks will continue to work as before. It's just that if you are I guess a developer and you're playing with blocks and you want your the people using your block to know what's going on now you are going to get some warnings to say that there is something a foot that you need to take care of and apparently it does go back uh aki says to uh compat 2023 so not that long in all honesty and then you know it's WordPress because so we have a variety **[65:27]** of different opinions and it what's makes what's makes the project so interesting some people are saying um maybe maybe not a great move. So for example, Mika Epstein is saying that maybe there hasn't been enough time for developers to react to that and I guess the the the thing would be let's point you to the fact that it's 7.0 and not 6.9 where this is going to happen. And um another thing here this is uh Timmy Walati I am so sorry Timmy for butchering your name. uh many developers who maintain **[65:59]** client sites don't follow the make WordPress core blog closely and risk being unaware of the upcoming changes. I mean yeah I guess that's going to be the case. So uh anything to add to that you you panelists you >> so I'm very much not a developer um but I remember from 20 years ago that we stepped away from frames for a whole bunch of different problems um I don't know what's changed in the last 20 years **[66:29]** that this is the better solution again >> absolutely >> um so I'm I'm curious at the same time I've heard some convers conversations that I can't verify because I don't have the necessary knowledge that if we would move to modern CSS and um that we might not need this solution because CSS is well capable of separating this if we just do it right. But that's **[67:00]** all hearsay because I don't know enough about this. >> Yeah, I'm in your camp as well taco there. I'm I'm just sort of following along for the ride and Courtney's got a little bit extra to add here. So she says I framing there is a good chat in post status if you're involved in that involving Joe Doulson and Will William Patton regarding concerns for I framing more for accessibility. Um sadly I don't have the capacity to elucidate on that but okay thank you Courtney that's really helpful. Um and then she goes on **[67:32]** to say a little bit more there are two separate documents that and that increases the overall verosity of the interface. So there are two separate documents. Are you meaning in order to implement the iframe? There's like the iframe version and the like such as the page and then the iframe with >> that's what I mean. So this iframe sitting inside of what would have otherwise always been just the content anyway. Okay. Yeah. Interesting. Okay. I'm going to have to let this percolate a bit. And uh Courtney again says, "I would love to have a recorded experience **[68:02]** from a screen reader user before and after using the I brain approach." >> And I think you should also highlight Amber's comment. >> Oh. >> Uh on this. >> Oh yeah, I did. >> When the editor becomes Yeah. >> Yeah. Thank you. Um Amber said, well, you can read it out, Taco, if you like. >> Yeah. So Amber said, "When the editor becomes an iframe, uh accessibility browser extensions will no longer be able to test it." And this makes accessibility harder. >> Oh gosh, that is interesting. Okay. And I **[68:34]** imagine for that comment you could substitute quite a variety of different things. Okay, that is fascinating. Okay. Um h food for thought. >> Well, most of the blocks are already framed. So um I think the the concern is valid. Yeah. about backwards compatibility because version one and version three um of the block JSON or block um standards um has been not iframe but all **[69:06]** those that were version three and most of them are um have no trouble with the iframe. I think it's more a concern of if I have installed or created a custom block um in 2020. Uh it was a custom block and it wasn't ready for a site edit. Oh, >> I see. >> Then it's kind of pro and the developer is not there anymore that >> right right >> block doesn't work anymore. That's a big maybe uh because LL um was also in the **[69:38]** in the GitHub uh chat there >> or uh issue uh tracking um comments there and said yeah we don't really know what uh what wouldn't work. We just need to test a few plugins to make sure that an older version of um certain blocks are still um yeah still yeah rendering okay uh in the block editor after everything is ifframed. I I'm I'm not want to belittle all the concerns. Um **[70:09]** that's um that's not what I wanted to do. But I also want to take a little bit the temperature out of it to say okay there is the last three years or four years even there were most of the blocks were all in version three and I framed. >> Interesting. What what was so curious about this to me is exactly what Taco said. I'd kind of forgotten that iframes were even a thing. It was one of those things that people stopped talking about ages ago. And um yeah, so when I saw WordPress iframe, what what's going on? So, okay, it'll be curious to see in **[70:40]** which direction this goes and if if concerns about accessibility like Amber's just mentioned, you know, um bring things uh you know, change the path that we're moving on. Uh Aki's back in the comments. Thank you. Many editors such as mobile or tablet preview and the site editor already work in frames. So, I think that's maybe what big it was just uh alluding to. So that conversation happened over on the or at least that piece happened over on the repository. So go and check it out over there. We got a further piece from um **[71:11]** Ray uh as well. And I don't know why I've got this little picturein picture thing here. That's in Oh, you don't see it. It was only me. That's cute. Oh, maybe there was a video or something. The WP Community Collective celebrates contributor day with table sorry contributor day table leads with appreciation campaign. And there's a always um Ray does a summary just right here at the very top which is always very cool. Uh the WPCC and GoDaddy are spotlighting volunteer table leads from this year's flagship word camps and offering stipens to those who paid their **[71:43]** own way. So if you read through this uh I I don't know if this is something that I've heard of before. It's kind of curious. The what it's like postumous work. They it looks like the WPCC too many C's there. I think WPCC have gone back and looked at who were table leads and how they were funded and whether they paid their own way and then postumously uh for work already carried out going back um and giving stipens out. I don't know what the the value of **[72:14]** those stipens is or whether it's on a you know maybe there's a different value for different ones but certainly um that's what's happening and I think that's quite interesting and I'd not heard of that before. I don't know, Taco. I don't know if you're more familiar with this than I am. I imagine Courtney in the comments will be, but >> we have Courtney in the comments and she's on the board of the WPCC. So, >> let's see. Maybe she can chime in, but I don't. Um, >> no. Okay. >> I think it's it's interesting that we're uh sort of sponsoring retroactively **[72:46]** a subset of volunteers. Um I wonder if it's again if if Courtney pop pops up. The curious thing about that is it's work which has already been done. Um which is like there's something slightly different there, isn't there? Normally we're sponsoring people to who are about to do the thing. Like you you hear about scholarships and things like that and so somebody gets a stipen to go to an event and what have you. This is kind of mopping up the stuff that's already happened in 2025. And so yeah, **[73:17]** very very curious >> in in that sense. It's very similar to the um Yoast fund. >> Oh, is that how that works as well? >> Yeah, it I didn't know that. >> Celebrates the people who have been active or are active in the community. Um but it's not >> before. It's always in hindsight like you you have been working on a team for XYZ. >> I did not know that. Okay, here we go. So, Courtney, as always, is uh Oh, I'm so Jonathan. I'm going to get better. I **[73:48]** promise. Uh, in the year 2026, my New Year's resolution is to erase Jonathan's face less. That's got to be the show note. Sorry, the show title. Erase Jonathan's face less. Anyway, back to the comment. Can somebody write that down so that I can remember it because I'm about to say something? Uh the WPCC and GoDaddy did a similar campaign last year for Word Camp US on the day of the event. I did not know any of this. It's fascinating what **[74:18]** passes you by, isn't it? Uh there is a set amount divided among all who did so unsponsored. Okay. Okay. So, there's a fixed bit of cash and everybody gets a slice of that pie. Doing so on the day of the event as a surprise was a blast but not sustainable for those organizing. Oh, okay. Oh, yeah. No kidding. I bet that was really fun for especially the recipients of that. Um, Courtney's available, I'm sure, for comments. But, uh, if you want to go and read more about that, this this curious **[74:49]** thing that I'd not heard of before, this idea of sort of paying for work already done at those events, WP Community Collective celebrates contributor day with tables with appreciation campaign. You can find that on the repository. >> Anybody else? Oops. Yeah, >> I like that acknowledging of of work kind of I see you. It means I see you or see you and you did good work and then here's uh something something. Yeah, it will never make up for hours or something like that. But it's a really a **[75:19]** token of big appreciation and I I love and >> we should have more of that. I guess the curious the curious slight change which is a big change is that if you've got the pot of money because you haven't assigned it at the beginning and let's say that you were you were going to assign it and you you thought to yourself well I can only afford these three individuals you know now you could maybe do these seven individuals who did these things because they've already kind of done it so it kind of it just manages it in a different way plus you get that nice **[75:49]** surprise of somebody showing up and giving you some money which is which It's very pleasant. Uh, okay. So, there we go. Go and check that out on the repository. Right. Okay. I will, uh, put this back up. I wanted to just to tell you it, sorry, it feels a bit like self-promotion, but it's not. It's really all about Jetack and about uh, Devon Walker. Uh, Devon, >> it's your podcast. You're allowed to self-promote. >> Okay, great. Thanks. >> Your podcast. On your podcast. Yeah. >> Thank you so much. Uh, I always feel bad **[76:19]** about it, though. I don't know what it is. It's terrible. >> Um, Okay, so Devin Walker came on to Oh, I'm nearly at 200 episodes. That's got to be a thing, hasn't it? Wonder what >> Oh, wonder what I should do for that. >> Yeah, >> maybe I'll just skip it and go straight to 2011. >> Something like that. >> Missing. >> Yeah, just missed one out. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, so Devon Walker has just um been appointed as the lead for Jetack and uh **[76:50]** Devon previously has been involved in all sorts of ways over the WordPress space, probably most famously as the co-founder with Matt Cromwell of GiveWP and uh was kind of having a bit of a moment out of being the lead of a product and was kind of figuring out what his new path would be and um and Matt Mullen popped up in his feed somewhere and said, "I've got a project for you. Do you fancy do you fancy taking on Jetpack? And uh it's it's a project. Let's just say it like that. **[77:22]** Devon's very very frank about it uh in the podcast episode. You know how Jetpack is not everybody's favorite thing. In fact, I'm going to go further than that. I'd say that Jetack is some people's least favorite thing. They really kind of rail against it. Um and yet it does so much. Maybe that's the problem. It's trying to do lots and lots of things. So, he says the praise, jack of all trades, master of none. Anyway, he's now at the helm. He's got the the capacity to really shake things up a little bit. I think AI is going to be a **[77:53]** big part of that, plus a reorg of how the the team is going to be structured and where the the you know, where the bodies are going to be and who's going to be doing different things. So, um exciting times, um I would hope in the jetack space. So, yeah, if you're a jetack user, you got things to look forward to. If you're not, maybe in a few months time it'll be uh something that you want to look at again because yeah, when I got into the WordPress space, there was just lots of how to describe it. Lots of people having strong opinions about Jetack. Let's put **[78:24]** it that way. And uh there is a lot going on inside that plug-in for sure. Does anybody want to add anything to that? Well, I think they already made a huge change since the time that you joined the WordPress community because Jetack used to be one thing with a whole bunch of features. >> Yeah. >> And is now a lot of smaller plugins working quite well together. Um, all under Jetack brand. >> Yeah. >> There's a lot of overlap as well though. So for example, you can it's not **[78:55]** inconceivable to be in Jetack and realize that you've somehow got to the exact same space through a completely different route. So you know just things like that like having a having a unified UI and also you know just curious things like the fact that there's a whole com sort of side to it where you know if you want to view stats and things like that you might have to be logged into a dot account. It's very it's not straightforward. We're kind of used to signing up to what feels like a bit of a SAS product, if you know what I mean. **[79:25]** You sign up to the SAS product, you got one login and the menu item is the same for everybody and it's straightforward to follow. Anyway, he takes all of that and explains what his plan is. So, it's definitely worth worth. >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay, there we go. Um, right. Okay, let's move on. Uh, speaking of uh platforms that uh not everybody loves. >> Oh, yeah. I don't know if anybody loves **[79:56]** beat up. >> Okay. Yeah. Well, >> let us know in the chat if you like meetup.com. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Tell us in the chat if you love me.com. Well, they got it looks different. They've got a nice new shiny coat of paint, but uh underneath it's still the same. Um meetup.com, forget all that. What we what we want to tell you about is the event that's happening. There's a couple of things to notice this week. uh much of it tied to WordPress 6.9. If on the 27th of November you are looking for things to do, there's a couple of things which might be of interest to you. Uh so the **[80:26]** first one is uh Maruti M. I'm not sure of Maruti's surname. Apologies. Um >> Mahanti as you can see on the top right because confusing interface. >> Yeah, there you go. Mahanti. That's right. Yeah, look, it's there and also there. Okay, you're right. Um how to prepare your WordPress site for WordPress 6.9. I mean, it does what it says on the tin. Is there anything else to say about that? No. But >> what's going on here? Do I get accept or settings? What? Uh, **[80:57]** I don't know. Reject. >> Reject all is the button you're looking. Um, so there you go. That's happening um at 10:00 a.m. GMT, uh, which is this Thursday, the 27th of November. And another one if you would be interested. some chap Jonathan. I don't know. It only says Jonathan B. I don't know who he is. >> On the top right it says Jonathan Bosinger. >> Oh yeah, it says it on the right. Yeah, look. Uh oh, no it doesn't. It says share a flyer. **[81:29]** >> One conspiracy. >> Hiding Jonathan. >> Yeah. Yeah, that's it. Every That's hysterical. Uh Juan Mar and Jonathan. Van Margarito and Jonathan are doing um a developer hours 6.9 developer updates, you know, to kind of get you in the mood if you're a developer. Do you want to mention anything? I can see block bindings and interactivity APIs under discussion. >> Yeah, basically we just we decided to run a couple of developer hours just focusing primarily on the developer **[82:00]** updates that coming. So, we had one two weeks ago where we covered um data views and data form and the abilities API that's on WordPress TV if you want to check that out. And then this week we're covering uh the blockbinding updates that are coming and the interactivity updates that are coming. So we'll have some live demos, we'll have some code walkthroughs. Uh so if this is something you're interested in, you know, if you're a developer and you want to work with these things or you want to learn what's coming in WordPress 6.19, you can come and join us. If you can't make it at the time, which I know the time is difficult for a lot of folks in in sort of the Western Americas, we are **[82:31]** recording this and will be on WordPress TV a couple of days later. >> Nice, nice, nice, nice. So, coming up this Thursday at 12:00 p.m. >> GMT as well. Okay. Right. >> Um, we've got a piece here. Let me just sort of go through I because we're very short on time, I'm going to miss out the AI piece if that's all right. Um, but I'll quickly show it to you if you're interested. So, apparently you can find this on um on Jamie Marsen's blog, but I found it on LinkedIn and didn't find a link out to it. So, I'm just going to **[83:02]** mention it here. This is really curious. Um Jamie is very pro- AI and um but I think has had his um you know concerns around it in the same way that everybody else you know how will WordPress fit into that landscape in the future? Will it get to the point where uh WordPress is basically obsolete because you can just talk to an AI and it'll build you a website. Well that that is having read some materials recently that very much is not the case. He's much more sanguin about it. So go and check it out. It's **[83:32]** called Why I'm Now Convinced AI won't kill WordPress. And you too can learn all about the child that kicks him on the plane uh repeatedly in the back. And then couple of plugins. Let's end this way. A few plugins that I have come across during the course of this week. I think they're new. Um if they're not new, they're certainly fairly new. So here's the first one. This is called Design Set Go by uh Justin Neely. and it's a a suite of blocks and um it's uh **[84:04]** it's really really new. It's got very few reviews and what have you, but man alive does he have a lot of blocks and 47 blocks. He's launching with all sorts, you know, icons, modal triggers, countdown timers, sliders, you you get the idea. Maps, the usual array of things. It's on the WordPress.org repo. I don't know if there's a paid version coming in the pipeline, but it's there now. That's the first one. Uh where's the second one? There we go. This is the next one. Don't fully understand this in all honesty, but let's just give it a **[84:35]** mention anyway. It's called the content area block, and it says, "This block allows you to add an additional content area to a site editor template and store the block output inside of a meta field." Yeah. Okay. So far so good. And I'm thinking, does this then allow me to basically have two content areas inside the UI of the block editor? And how does that work? How do I know which one I'm in and things like that? Anyway, there it is. Does anybody want to guess how **[85:08]** that works or what that does? Do you >> No, but I do want to install it after this and check it out. >> Yeah. Isn't that curious? Like just the idea of two like I'm so used to it being meta. you go and fill out that other thing, >> but having two I can really see examples of where I would love that, but also I'm kind of curious how how much I'd mess things up. Anyway, there it is. It's brand new version 0.1.0. So, it's Oh, it's four four months old, but it's new on my radar. And here's the **[85:38]** last block um which I wanted to mention. Dynamic head. though that that plugin um maybe because of the fact that it's vague but uh we saw the same for Justin Neilies. >> Uh this plugin is 4 months old and it has less than 10 in. >> We saw the same for Justin Neil's plugin. >> It's it was at version 1.2 which was a couple days old uh a couple weeks old days old. Um so probably the 1.0 0 **[86:12]** release was a couple months weeks or months ago and it still has less than 10 installs and that is a problem for the plug-in repo. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> New plugins well enough. >> Y >> it's interesting like a show like this you can't really spend the entire thing but there is some part of me that would love to do just a show about exactly that. just like 10 minutes on a new plugin, then another 10 minutes on another new plugin, just have a little poke around and see exactly what it **[86:43]** does. I'm not sure how engaging that would be, but um anyway, thank you. That's a good point. So, that was the second one. And then the third one was this one. Uh dynamic header and navigation block themes. So, uh it offers you the capacity to amend uh things like headers and navigation and things like that. So you can change the the the the size whether it's sticky and stuff and presumably it all works with core blocks. That's all I've got really about that one. So I'll link in the show **[87:14]** notes. >> And was that it? Have we got everything or Taco? I've got this I've got this this one. Was that something you wanted to mention or was that because we >> Yeah. So basically this came up in our conversation um before starting the show. Uh, and it's all about it's a post Mara wrote uh about the challenges that she has living with an early adopter. Um, >> Yoast >> of technology and **[87:44]** >> Yoast is definitely an early adopter of pretty much anything he can get his hands on. Um, so she describes a perfect example of a doorbell that keeps ringing for half an hour because it crashed. head. >> Um, >> and so annoying. >> Well, yeah. >> 30 minutes. Yeah. Wow. >> And I mean, stuff like that obviously always happens when he's not at home. Um, my wife could probably have written **[88:15]** a similar post because >> although I'm not that early in things, um, I do try to be at the forefront of some of the technological advancements. Um, and that doesn't always work out. >> No, no, I can totally sympathize. I've got a set of outside lights and I I say the the G word, you know, the the Google word. I use that phrase to trigger Google and then I just say, "Turn on the outside lights." And on come the outside **[88:48]** lights. 100% of the time those lights come on. It doesn't matter many times my wife says the exact same collection of words. No, they don't come on. And then the same thing turning them off. So I'll have turned them on. I'll come back in and say the exact sentence in reverse like turn off the outside lights and they go off reliably 100%. Not >> no idea. >> Yeah. And so um that is partially a problem because we've been training a **[89:20]** lot of voice recognition on male voices only. So women and children will be uh well >> uh not be will not be recognized as easily as male voices because of training sets. Um which is a a problem that well we see a lot in AI now where the training sets have a real world impact on their use. Um, but yeah, that goes for little things like voice recognition and um, yeah, stuff like **[89:51]** that as well. >> I'm gonna like you've just given me some ideas. I'm now going to deliberately come up with some things which are really annoying like have I don't know just like a speaker come on uh and just be un turn offable just when I'm not as soon as my car gets a mile away from where I live just play loud music or something like that hide a speaker in a locked cupboard or something. Uh >> I think there's other ways to end your marriage, Nathan. That's what you're **[90:23]** looking for. Yeah. Oh, no. It's It's definitely going to come back, though. I'll I'll have to uh you know, there'll be there'll be retribution, but I love stuff like that. >> Keeps me going. Um, okay. So, I think that's it. >> It's a fun post to read. Um, it's very recognizable for a lot of people, I guess. >> Thank you very much. I'm just seeing if there's any more comments that have come in. Not really, except you sa Thanks for the plug. Oh, okay. So, thanks for the plug-in shout out. Oh, that was your plugin, was it? Oh, okay. That's great. **[90:54]** What? How great. I'm pleased that we mentioned it. That's lovely. New plug-in show would be cool indeed. Benny, first test the plugin to see if it's worth the mention. Okay. >> Okay. Maybe I'll >> actually I think it's equally fun if you test it for five minutes and it's most definitely a waste of time. >> Okay. I could make >> much more. Yeah. Yeah. Nathan is >> but Nathan is too nice for that. >> No, I can I can **[91:24]** >> I'll join you on the show. Don't worry. >> I had this thing when I was a kid and it was called the hardware hammer and it was like this massive really massive. It was about two foot three foot long hammer but it was made of the most like foamy foam and it and so you could smack the heck out of everything and it was like just gently patting it. And so I used to get my anger out on all of my technology with the har you stupid thing. You and everybody should have a hammer for moments when the plugin **[91:56]** doesn't do what you want. Okay, maybe there's a thing. Maybe we need to do that. That could be hilarious, right? Okay, that is I believe it. Uh, thank you. Oh, there we go. I wanted to get rid of that and I wanted to get rid of that. Okay, that's it. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. Firstly, let's go around the panel. Thank you to be for joining us. >> Well, thank you. Yeah, >> thank you to Jonathan whose face just kept kind of going away. Uh, just to sort of like emphasize the point, let's just do that. >> Where did he go? Yeah, **[92:29]** >> I can't do what I want to do on a public broadcast. Jonathan, >> you need a hardware hammer. Uh, so thank you to Jonathan being a good sport and having his head covered up lots of times. And thank you to Taco for joining us as well. And thank you to you if you came into the comments and you put something down in writing. That's great. Apart from you, bot on Twitter. Stop it. >> Stop it. It's not clever. Nobody thinks you're clever. >> It counts as a view, Nathan. It counts as a view. >> Oh, yeah. Okay. All right. That's great. **[93:01]** We'll take it in that case. Um, okay. In which case, we will probably say goodbye. We need to do the hands. >> So, okay. Give us your hands. Let's give it a wave. Give a smile. Thank you. We'll be back this time next week. Stay safe. Have a good week. >> It's good to see you, Taco. >> Yeah. >> Thanks, See you. See you later, John. >> Stick around if you want to have a chat. You three. That would be quite nice. We'll see you in a sec. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.