Today’s roundup contains information about the WordPress 5.2 release. And, yet again, some ACF news. I’m also highlighting the launch of the new Translate WordPress site editor and some very cool WPMU DEV news. Let’s dive in!
WordPress 5.2 is here!
You may have noticed in your WordPress Dashboard already, but WordPress 5.2 is here!
We’ve covered the most important features here before, but as a reminder, WordPress 5.2 introduces the Site Health check, PHP Error Protection along with Accessibility Updates, New Dashboard Icons, and Plugin Compatibility Checks.
As much as I love nice and shiny new features, the one thing I’m most excited about in WordPress 5.2 is the PHP version bump. It will not only push WordPress to a faster and more secure PHP version – though, truth be told, you should really already want to be on the 7.2 or 7.3 version even – but it will allow for many “new” functions and functionalities to be used in WordPress itself. On to a better and brighter future!
ACF 5.8
In my previous roundup, I mentioned ACF, the popular custom fields plugin releases ACF Blocks. And I got pretty excited about that, but ACF had even more news this week. They released their 5.8 version adds the foundation for the ACF Blocks and it aims to radically change the perception of block development in Gutenberg. It does this by reducing learning time with JavaScript knowledge to an absolute minimum. And I am a big fan.
If you haven’t checked them out yet, you really should if you’ve ever wondered about how to create Gutenberg blocks without having to dive into JavaScript.
Translating WordPress just got a lot smoother
If you’ve ever helped out translating WordPress into your own language on translate.wordpress.org, you were greeted by an interface powered by GlotPress. This interface recently saw an update over the Translate WordPress site and I’m liking this new and smoother experience a lot. I’m pretty sure all the people helping out translating WordPress last Saturday at the WP Translations day got a kick out of it!
WPMU DEV releases 90% of their plugins for free
James Farmer of WPMU DEV fame published a blog post on their site where he explained that 90% of their premium plugins were going to be released for free. This is actually quite a big turn around for the company as James states:
But today marks perhaps the most significant change we’ve made as a company, because as of today, we’re embracing and focusing on what the vast vast majority of our members care about and saying farewell and good luck to the over 90% of our plugin catalogue, which you can now find freely available on our GitHub.
James Farmer
Check out his full post on why they’re being released on Github instead of the WordPress.org repository and more in-depth reasoning behind this big switch.