BeeWUG Meetups Archives - Page 4 of 5

BeeWUG Summary 2nd August 2017

What’s Been Happening in the WordPress World Last Month

All of the URLs on your website have a built in RSS feed which can be accessed by adding /feed/ to the URL such as, https://www.contradodigital.com/category/developer/feed/
Couple of really handy tools for automation, https://zapier.com/ and https://ifttt.com/ with one example of how this can be used for social media management, https://www.contradodigital.com/2015/10/08/60-seconds-a-day-social-media-management-with-automation-and-technology/ and an interesting example using Tweets and Hashtags to control bubbles in the office, http://bubblino.com/
Handy plugin that adds in the Featured Image URL into the RSS feed which can then be used in MailChimp campaigns, https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/featured-images-for-rss-feeds/
Lots of popular Gallery Plugins, which ultimately depends on your individual needs and requirements, https://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/wordpress-gallery-plugins/
Various tools for local WordPress development including, https://github.com/Varying-Vagrant-Vagrants/VVV, http://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-install-wordpress-on-your-windows-computer-using-wamp/, http://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-create-a-local-wordpress-site-using-xampp/
Debugging WordPress can be challenging if you didn’t build the website yourself or if you are unsure of how WordPress fits together. A handy guide and process to follow can be found here, https://www.contradodigital.com/2016/08/12/how-to-debug-wordpress-problems/
Handy Cacheing plugin for WordPress, https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/w3-total-cache/, beware that while cacheing can be great, it can also cause problems.
How to add custom fields to WooCommerce category pages beneath the product listings, follow this guide here, https://www.contradodigital.com/2016/07/05/add-custom-field-woocommerce-product-category-pages-display-content-products/
WordPress template hierarchy handy for understanding how WordPress decides on which PHP file to use to load content,
How to automate email marketing campaigns, https://www.contradodigital.com/2016/09/22/automating-your-email-marketing-campaigns-with-wordpress-and-mailchimp/
How to add featured images to RSS feeds, https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/featured-images-for-rss-feeds/
Handy plugin for adding Facebook Messenger to your WordPress website for Live Chat functionality, https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/fb-messenger/
Other Live Chat functionality for WordPress, https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-live-chat-support/, lots of plugins available, have a browse around for something that meets your individual needs
Handy tool for seeing how real people are using your website, https://www.hotjar.com/
Guide on how to implement free SSL certificates on your website, https://www.contradodigital.com/2016/09/01/claim-your-free-ssl-certificates-for-https/ using Lets Encrypt
SiteLock Acquires Patchman’s Malware and Vulnerability Detection Technology, Expands WordPress Customer Base to 4 Million – https://wptavern.com/sitelock-acquires-patchmans-malware-and-vulnerability-detection-technology-expands-wordpress-customer-base-to-4-million
Adobe to Discontinue Flash Support and Updates in 2020 – https://wptavern.com/adobe-to-discontinue-flash-support-and-updates-in-2020
.blog Passes 100,000 Registrations, 66.5% of Purchased Domains are in Use – https://wptavern.com/blog-passes-100000-registrations-66-5-of-purchased-domains-are-in-use
New Dobby Plugin Captures and Hides Unwanted WordPress Admin Notices – https://wptavern.com/new-dobby-plugin-captures-and-hides-unwanted-wordpress-admin-notices
Jetpack 5.2 Brings Major Improvements to the Contact Form Module – https://wptavern.com/jetpack-5-2-brings-major-improvements-to-the-contact-form-module
Let’s Encrypt Passes 100 Million Certificates Issued, Will Offer Wildcard Certificates in January 2018 – https://wptavern.com/lets-encrypt-passes-100-million-certificates-issued-will-offer-wildcard-certificates-in-january-2018
Automattic Releases Net Neutrality WordPress Plugin Ahead of July 12 Protest – https://wptavern.com/automattic-releases-net-neutrality-wordpress-plugin-ahead-of-july-12-protest
Sustain Event Draws 100 Attendees to Discuss the Sustainability of Open Source Software – https://wptavern.com/sustain-event-draws-100-attendees-to-discuss-the-sustainability-of-open-source-software
WordPress.com Introduces Scheduling for Social Media Posts – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-com-introduces-scheduling-for-social-media-posts
Gutenberg Boilerplate Demonstrates How to Build Custom Blocks – https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-boilerplate-demonstrates-how-to-build-custom-blocks
Stylishly Display Weather Conditions with the Weather Atlas Widget – https://wptavern.com/stylishly-display-weather-conditions-with-the-weather-atlas-widget
WP Rollback Adds Multisite Compatibility and Changelog Preview – https://wptavern.com/wp-rollback-adds-multisite-compatibility-and-changelog-preview
bbPress 2.5.13 Readds Sanitization to Anonymous User Data – https://wptavern.com/bbpress-2-5-13-readds-sanitization-to-anonymous-user-data
The State of JavaScript 2017 Survey is Now Open – https://wptavern.com/the-state-of-javascript-2017-survey-is-now-open
WordPress 4.8.1 Adds a Dedicated Custom HTML Widget – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-8-1-adds-a-dedicated-custom-html-widget
Members 2.0 Adds Capability Registration System, Introduces New Settings Screen for Add-Ons – https://wptavern.com/members-2-0-adds-capability-registration-system-introduces-new-settings-screen-for-add-ons

The next meetup is on Wednesday 6th September, full details here, https://www.meetup.com/Blackburn-WordPress-Meetup/

BeeWUG 2nd August 2017

Get involved and book here, https://www.meetup.com/Blackburn-WordPress-Meetup/

Be sure to subscribe to the mailing list on the right hand side to keep up to date with all future events and BeeWUG news.

BeeWUG is a community driven event, meaning that it is what people make of it. If you are interested in WordPress, use WordPress professionally or just want to know what WordPress is about, come along and find out more.

WordPress is awesome, get involved!

Event Format

18:00 — Arrivals
18:30 — Prompt start – Talk – WordPress news
18:45 — Q&A – For topics covered and Michael’s WP update
19:00 — WP Clinic – Bring your laptop and get the hands on help you need from the WordPress community in the room
20:00 —Break & Networking
20:15 — In Depth Talk – Understanding Linux
21:00 — End

Event Information

Be sure to review the details about BeeWUG and how to get here. If you’d like to speak at one of our future events or even sponsor a future event, let us know.

BeeWUG Summary 5th July 2017

What’s Been Happening in the WordPress World Last Month

WordPress 4.9 to Focus on Managing Plugins and Themes, Gutenberg Targeted for 5.0 – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-9-to-focus-on-managing-plugins-and-themes-gutenberg-targeted-for-5-0 with more details found about Gurenberg here, https://make.wordpress.org/core/2017/06/16/4-9-and-gutenberg/ and the plugin for testing Gutenberg can be found here if you want a play, https://wordpress.org/plugins/gutenberg/, and if you want to find out more about Gutenberg, have a read here, https://wptavern.com/why-gutenberg
WordPress Marketing Team Launches Case Studies and Usage Survey for Agencies, Clients, and Enterprises – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-marketing-team-launches-case-studies-and-usage-survey-for-agencies-clients-and-enterprises – This is a really positive step forward to marketing WordPress as a platform
WooCommerce Drops 50% Renewal Discount on Subscriptions – https://wptavern.com/woocommerce-drops-50-renewal-discount-on-subscriptions – Something to be aware of if you’re using WooCommerce Extensions which isn’t going down too well in the community
WordPress 4.8 “Evans” Released Featuring Nearby WordPress Events, New Media Widgets, and Link Boundaries – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-8-evans-released-featuring-nearby-wordpress-events-new-media-widgets-and-link-boundaries – Great to see a few new members at the event this month as a direct result of the local WordPress meetup event being listed in the dashboard 🙂
Holler Box: A Smart Notification Plugin for WordPress Websites – https://wptavern.com/holler-box-a-smart-notification-plugin-for-wordpress-websites – Handy little plugin. There are various different versions of plugins like this which can be found in the WordPress repository
Gutenberg 0.2.0 Released, Adds New Custom HTML and Cover Image Blocks – https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-0-2-0-released-adds-new-custom-html-and-cover-image-blocks – This isn’t going down too well in the community and there have even been blog posts pleading not to make this part of WordPress Core. Time will tell. This type of page builder style technology is good and bad
Popular WordPress Plugins Slow to Add Meta Box Support for Calypso – https://wptavern.com/popular-wordpress-plugins-slow-to-add-meta-box-support-for-calypso
WooCommerce 3.1 Adds New CSV Product Importer/Exporter, Improves Extension Management – https://wptavern.com/woocommerce-3-1-adds-new-csv-product-importerexporter-improves-extension-management
Create your own Street View imagery with new 360 cameras – https://www.blog.google/products/maps/create-your-own-street-view-imagery-new-360-cameras/
Google have launched a Mobile Sites Certification – https://www.contradodigital.com/2017/06/08/weve-passed-googles-mobile-sites-certification/ – It’s worth running through the test if you want to learn more about mobile websites and technologies beyond the surface level. For the majority of WordPress users, most quality Themes will have a lot of this taken care of
Recommended Themes and Plugins – https://beewug.uk/resources/recommended-wordpress-plugins-themes/ – The discussion came up again, so here is the information for reference
Any ideas and feedback you would like to contribute to the WordPress world and community, get involved here, https://wordpress.org/support/forum/requests-and-feedback/ – Many of the features you see today are based on comments, discussions and generally getting involved with the WordPress community online
Discussion around cacheing, quite a handy tip if you’re using Google Chrome to completely disable browser level cacheing, https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5690269/disabling-chrome-cache-for-website-development and always consider additional cacheing levels at the WordPress level and the web server level that are quite likely impacting what you are seeing
Handy tool for testing the speed of your website, https://tools.pingdom.com/ and optimising the content of your website to load faster
A good responsive slider plugin if needed, http://soliloquywp.com/
New image attribute for responsive websites for multiple devices, srcset, https://www.sitepoint.com/how-to-build-responsive-images-with-srcset/ – Many quality WordPress themes will implement this by default, others may not. Something to consider for making sure that smaller images are loaded on mobiles and larger images are loaded on larger screens such as laptops and desktop computers
Imsanity Plugin to avoid people using your WordPress website uploading extremely large image sizes – https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/imsanity/ – A very handy plugin that I’m sure will come in handy for people.

The next meetup is on Wednesday 2nd August, full details here, https://www.meetup.com/Blackburn-WordPress-Meetup/

BeeWUG 5th July 2017

Get involved and book here, https://www.meetup.com/Blackburn-WordPress-Meetup/

Be sure to subscribe to the mailing list on the right hand side to keep up to date with all future events and BeeWUG news.

WordPress is awesome, get involved!

Event Format

18:00 — Arrivals
18:30 — Prompt start – Talk – WordPress news
18:45 — Q&A – For topics covered and Michael’s WP update
19:00 — WP Clinic – Bring your laptop and get the hands on help you need from the WordPress community in the room
20:00 —Break & Networking
20:15 — In Depth Talk – TBC
21:00 — End

Event Information

Be sure to review the details about BeeWUG and how to get here. If you’d like to speak at one of our future events or even sponsor a future event, let us know.

BeeWUG Summary 7th June 2017

What’s Been Happening in the WordPress World Last Month

VersionPress Launches VersionPress.com to Fund Open Source Project – https://wptavern.com/versionpress-launches-versionpress-com-to-fund-open-source-project
WPForms Acquires WP Mail SMTP Plugin – https://wptavern.com/wpforms-acquires-wp-mail-smtp-plugin
WordCamp Europe 2017 Livestream Tickets Now Available – https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-europe-2017-livestream-tickets-now-available which can be registered here, https://2017.europe.wordcamp.org/tickets/
WP-CLI 1.2.0 Released, Project Unveils New Logo – https://wptavern.com/wp-cli-1-2-0-released-project-unveils-new-logo, for examples of how to use WP-CLI view the resources here, https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/core/
WordPress Removes HHVM from Testing Infrastructure – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-removes-hhvm-from-testing-infrastructure so be sure to test thoroughly if you are using HHVM for future as there is no guarantee that updates will work out of the box at this current time
When upgrading to PHP7, be sure to check that everything is likely to work on your website, a handy plugin for this is PHP7 Checker Plugin, https://wordpress.org/plugins/php-compatibility-checker/
WordPress to Select New JavaScript Framework for Use in Core – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-to-select-new-javascript-framework-for-use-in-core
WordPress 4.8 Improves Accessibility on Admin Screens – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-8-improves-accessibility-on-admin-screens
WordPress 4.8 Increases Maximum Width of the Customizer Sidebar to 600 Pixels – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-8-increases-maximum-width-of-the-customizer-sidebar-to-600-pixels
Preview the next WordPress Gutenberg release that is planned, https://wpcoredesign.mystagingwebsite.com/gutenberg/
Avada Theme Version 5.1.5 Patches Stored XSS and CSRF Vulnerabilities – https://wptavern.com/avada-theme-version-5-1-5-patches-stored-xss-and-csrf-vulnerabilities – Another reminder to always keep everything up to date at all times to patch security issues
WordPress.com’s TV Commercials Are Confusing, apparently, https://wptavern.com/wordpress-coms-tv-commercials-are-confusing
WordPress 4.7.5 Patches Six Security Issues, Immediate Update Recommended – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-7-5-patches-six-security-issues-immediate-update-recommended
WordPress.com Experiments With Allowing Business Plan Customers to Install Third-Party Plugins and Themes – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-com-experiments-with-allowing-business-plan-customers-to-install-third-party-plugins-and-themes
WordPress Security Issue in Password Reset Emails to Be Fixed in Future Release – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-security-issue-in-password-reset-emails-to-be-fixed-in-future-release
Jetpack 4.9 Introduces EU Cookie Law Banner Widget – https://wptavern.com/jetpack-4-9-introduces-eu-cookie-law-banner-widget, although if this is all you need from the Jetpack Plugin, then this may be a bit overkill to use just for this feature
WordPress Turns Age 14 – https://ma.tt/2017/05/wordpress-14/
Google’s JamBoard is now available, https://blog.google/products/g-suite/lets-jam-jamboard-now-available/, with quite a hefty price tag, but the technology is pretty cool
Google is bringing the speed of AMP to search & display ads – https://adwords.googleblog.com/2017/05/bringing-speed-of-amp-to-search-display.html
Google Analytics is Enhancing Support for AMP – https://analytics.googleblog.com/2017/05/google-analytics-is-enhancing-support.html
Google is now recommending Schema markup for job postings – https://developers.google.com/schemas/reference/types/JobPosting
Google for Jobs Launched, an AI-Powered Job Search Tool – http://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/google-io-2017-google-for-jobs-launch-search-ai-machine-learning-1695078 – Running Tendo Jobs, we’re not quite convinced Google Jobs has a long term future based on the lack of quality data powering the platform. Hence, why I believe, they are encouraging companies to use Schema markup to “Help with SEO” when in practice they are using that to capture data for companies and jobs. Unfortunately most businesses haven’t implemented Schema markup for the options that have been around for many years, so I doubt this is going to work over the long term. Time will tell.
The Good, the Bad and the AMP – https://www.semetrical.com/the-good-the-bad-and-the-amp/ – An interesting topic discussed at the meetup and worth a read for those interested in the potential future
People WannaCry But I’ve No Sympathy – https://www.contradodigital.com/2017/05/15/people-wannacry-but-ive-no-sympathy/ – A few thoughts on the latest global cyber attack. TL;DR, Invest in proactive security or feel the wrath of cyber criminals. It is up to you to decide to invest in cyber security or decide not to and hope that you won’t be caught up in an attack (top tip, you will be if you don’t invest in keeping your systems secure)
Google sends out a reminder about links in large-scale article campaigns for SEO – https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2017/05/a-reminder-about-links-in-large-scale.html – TL;DR, Just don’t do it
Make your own data gifs with our new tool from Google – https://blog.google/topics/journalism-news/make-your-own-data-gifs-our-new-too/ – Pretty cool tool that has been released which can bring data to life easier which you can use here, https://datagifmaker.withgoogle.com/edit
Introducing Twitter Kit 3 – https://blog.twitter.com/developer/en_us/topics/tools/2017/Introducing-Twitter-Kit-3.html – Lots of new features available to embedding Twitter content into mobile apps for those interested
Facebook tweaks Trending algorithm – https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/05/update-on-trending/
BA IT systems failure: Uninterruptible Power Supply was interrupted – https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/02/british_airways_data_centre_configuration/ – In essence, I’m not convinced this was the issue. These systems are designed to prevent failure, not cause it. Always make sure you have invested well in any critical IT infrastructure to ensure this type of failure cannot happen.
WordPress TV, where you can hear all about the latest WordPress related talks, https://wordpress.tv/ – Well worth a watch to continually learn new things and you may even see a few familiar faces while browsing around
Giphy Capture – https://giphy.com/apps/giphycapture – Super handy tool for quickly creating GIFs to help with tutorial based activities and how-to style quick snippets, and for Windows users, take a look here for alternatives, http://alternativeto.net/software/giphy-capture/
WordPress Template Hierarchy – https://developer.wordpress.org/files/2014/10/template-hierarchy.png – We’ve talked about this before, but always handy to keep referring back to this as it will help you understand how WordPress fits together and how to customise WordPress to suit your needs

The next meetup is on Wednesday 5th July, full details here, https://www.meetup.com/Blackburn-WordPress-Meetup/

BeeWUG 7th June 2017

Get involved and book here, https://www.meetup.com/Blackburn-WordPress-Meetup/events/239048780/

Be sure to subscribe to the mailing list on the right hand side to keep up to date with all future events and BeeWUG news.

WordPress is awesome, get involved!

Event Format

18:00 — Arrivals
18:30 — Prompt start – Talk – WordPress news
18:45 — Q&A – For topics covered and Michael’s WP update
19:00 — WP Clinic – Bring your laptop and get the hands on help you need from the WordPress community in the room
20:00 —Break & Networking
20:15 — In Depth Talk – TBC
21:00 — End

Event Information

Be sure to review the details about BeeWUG and how to get here. If you’d like to speak at one of our future events or even sponsor a future event, let us know.

BeeWUG Summary 3rd May 2017

Summary of discussions

What’s Been Happening in the WordPress World Last Month

BuddyPress 2016 Survey Results Show 54% of Respondents are on PHP 7.0+, https://wptavern.com/buddypress-2016-survey-results-show-54-of-respondents-are-on-php-7-0
New WordPress Plugin Shows Users Where a Plugin’s Settings Link Is Upon Activation, https://wptavern.com/new-wordpress-plugin-shows-users-where-a-plugins-settings-link-is-upon-activation
Hacked Home Routers are Launching Brute Force Attacks on WordPress Sites, https://wptavern.com/hacked-home-routers-are-launching-brute-force-attacks-on-wordpress-sites
Advanced WordPress Facebook Group Moves to Curb Low Quality Content with Admin-Approved Posts, https://wptavern.com/advanced-wordpress-facebook-group-moves-to-curb-low-quality-content-with-admin-approved-posts
WordPress Editor Experience Survey Shows 75% of Respondents Don’t Use Distraction-Free Writing Mode, https://wptavern.com/wordpress-editor-experience-survey-shows-75-of-respondents-dont-use-distraction-free-writing-mode, full results here, https://make.wordpress.org/core/2017/04/07/editor-experience-survey-results/
Yoast SEO’s PHP Upgrade Nag is Producing a Significant Increase in Sites Upgrading to PHP 7, https://wptavern.com/yoast-seos-php-upgrade-nag-is-producing-a-significant-increase-in-sites-upgrading-to-php-7
Blog Helper: An Alexa Skill for Managing a WordPress Blog with Your Voice, https://wptavern.com/blog-helper-an-alexa-skill-for-managing-a-wordpress-blog-with-your-voice – Interesting to see where things are heading and what is possible now the REST API is available
Manage Multiple Social Media Accounts in WordPress With Social Media Suite, https://wptavern.com/manage-multiple-social-media-accounts-in-wordpress-with-social-media-suite – While you can do this, you probably shouldn’t. There are better technologies available to manage social media accounts rather than WordPress
10up Releases WP Docker, an Open Source Docker Configuration for Local WordPress Development, https://wptavern.com/10up-releases-wp-docker-an-open-source-docker-configuration-for-local-wordpress-development – Docker is a system to containerise server infrastructure securely without the need for traditional Virtual Machines to be spun up
Shopify Discontinues Its Official Plugin for WordPress, https://wptavern.com/shopify-discontinues-its-official-plugin-for-wordpress – When WooCommerce is available, this is no real surprise
Watsonfinds WordPress Plugin Uses IBM’s Watson to Determine Most Likely Emotional Response From Readers, https://wptavern.com/watsonfinds-wordpress-plugin-uses-ibms-watson-to-determine-most-likely-emotional-response-from-readers
2017 Open Source Security and Risk Analysis Report Shows Widespread GPL License Conflicts, https://wptavern.com/2017-open-source-security-and-risk-analysis-report-shows-widespread-gpl-license-conflicts – Always keep your WordPress website secure
WordCamp Europe 2017 Introduces Small Business Sponsorships, https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-europe-2017-introduces-small-business-sponsorships with full information here, https://2017.europe.wordcamp.org/2017/03/23/wordcamp-europe-2017-sponsorship-exclusively-for-small-business/
WordPress 4.8 Will End Support for Internet Explorer Versions 8, 9, and 10, https://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-8-will-end-support-for-internet-explorer-versions-8-9-and-10 – Woo! Supporting older technologies is often more trouble than its worth where in fact it is just better to encourage your users to upgrade their systems – We’ve even seen some companies adding additional charges onto ecommerce orders for customers using older browser technologies in the form of a tax, which can be removed should they upgrade their technology – an interesting idea for sure!
New Plugin Offers Better Plugin Recommendations in the WordPress Admin, https://wptavern.com/new-plugin-offers-better-plugin-recommendations-in-the-wordpress-admin
WordPress 4.7.4 Fixes 47 Issues, https://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-7-4-fixes-visual-editor-incompatibility-with-upcoming-version-of-chrome – Again, keep everything up to date folks
Google introduces new methods for search quality based on user feedback, https://blog.google/products/search/our-latest-quality-improvements-search/
Google Maps now remembers where you parked your car, although probably best not to completely rely on this information, https://www.blog.google/products/maps/remember-where-you-parked-google-maps/
Google has announced more changes to highlighting non-SSL websites to encourage more people to migrate to HTTPS. If you haven’t done this yet, you need to be planning this as soon as possible, detailed guidelines on how to implement this yourself can be found at the bottom of this page, https://www.contradodigital.com/2016/09/01/claim-your-free-ssl-certificates-for-https/

Thanks to Mark Wilkinson from Highrise Digital for his talk on Hidden Features Within the WordPress Admin!

The next meetup is on Wednesday 7th June, full details here, https://www.meetup.com/Blackburn-WordPress-Meetup/events/239048780/

BeeWUG 3rd May 2017

Get involved and book here, https://www.meetup.com/Blackburn-WordPress-Meetup/events/238835029/

Be sure to subscribe to the mailing list on the right hand side to keep up to date with all future events and BeeWUG news.

WordPress is awesome, get involved!

Event Format

18:00 — Arrivals
18:30 — Prompt start – Talk – WordPress news
18:45 — Q&A – For topics covered and Michael’s WP update
19:00 — WP Clinic – Bring your laptop and get the hands on help you need from the WordPress community in the room
20:00 —Break & Networking
20:15 — In Depth Talk – Hidden Features in the WordPress Admin by Mark Wilkinson from Highrise Digital
21:00 — End

Event Information

Be sure to review the details about BeeWUG and how to get here. If you’d like to speak at one of our future events or even sponsor a future event, let us know.

BeeWUG Summary 5th April 2017

Summary of discussions

What’s Been Happening in the WordPress World Last Month

Stack Overflow Jobs Data Shows ReactJS Skills in High Demand, WordPress Market Oversaturated with Developers – https://wptavern.com/stack-overflow-jobs-data-shows-reactjs-skills-in-high-demand-wordpress-market-oversaturated-with-developers – We’re not too convinced with the stats surrounding WordPress, but it’s interesting never the less. The reality is that there are a lot of people around working with WordPress, although in our experience there are very few skilled WordPress Developers. There are many ways to build WordPress websites, many bad practices around with a core set of solid principles to build solid WordPress websites.
Following on from above, the annual StackOverflow Developer Survey is always an interesting read for those interested in the skills within the general web and software development markets, https://stackoverflow.com/insights/survey/2017#most-popular-technologies
Google Launches Invisible reCAPTCHA – https://wptavern.com/google-launches-invisible-recaptcha – Everyone hates these, but the reality is that they do significantly help reduce spam and in some cases even completely stop spam altogether. You can download the WordPress Plugin for this here, https://wordpress.org/plugins/invisible-recaptcha/
Google is Retiring Its Adsense for WordPress Plugin in May 2017 – https://wptavern.com/google-is-retiring-its-adsense-for-wordpress-plugin-in-may-2017 – Information for anyone using this on their WordPress website to monetise their blogging activities
WordPress.com Releases Chrome Add-On for Google Docs – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-com-releases-chrome-add-on-for-google-docs – This is serious cool. Essentially you can write on Google Docs and publish straight to WordPress as a Draft blog post. So no more copying and pasting between documents when you’re writing elsewhere prior to uploading to your WordPress website. This is only for WordPress.com at the moment, so it will be interesting to see when this comes out for self-hosted WordPress installations.
WordPress 4.7.3 Patches Six Security Vulnerabilities, Immediate Update Advised – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-4-7-3-patches-six-security-vulnerabilities-immediate-update-advised – As always, keep your WordPress website up to date and secure at all times to minimise the risk of being hacked
WooCommerce 3.0 has launched with a bunch of new features – https://wptavern.com/woocommerce-3-0-brings-major-improvements-to-product-gallery-introduces-crud-classes-and-a-new-cli
Blog in a Box Project Integrates WordPress with Raspberry Pi – https://wptavern.com/blog-in-a-box-project-integrates-wordpress-with-raspberry-pi – A bit of a random piece of news, but this just goes to show the power and flexibility of projects like WordPress and the Raspberry Pi – Have a go at building this yourself if you have a bit of time on your hands, it would be great to see someone build this and bring it along to one of the future BeeWUG events – https://inabox.blog/
WordPress App for Android Adds Better Support for Jetpack-Enabled Sites – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-app-for-android-adds-better-support-for-jetpack-enabled-sites
Community Team Releases Plugin That Displays WordPress Events Nearby – https://wptavern.com/community-team-releases-plugin-that-displays-wordpress-events-nearby – This is quite handy and can be installed here as a Plugin – https://wordpress.org/plugins/nearby-wp-events/ – We’ve just installed this ourselves and it’s quite a handy little plugin. It only shows the data in the Admin Dashboard at the moment, so it would be great to see an option for displaying this on the front end of the website too.
New WPstats.me Site Displays WordPress.org Plugin Download Stats – https://wptavern.com/new-wpstats-me-site-displays-wordpress-org-plugin-download-stats – Again for anyone who loves data, like me, this is seriously awesome. You can see the number of downloads for plugins in total and how this changes on a day by day basis which is such powerful data, have a play here, http://wpstats.me/?#plugin/wordpress-seo – To test any of the other 50,000 plugins from the WordPress Plugin directory, simply change the URL slug at the end and you’ll see data for that plugin instead. It would be great to see this same data for all of time which would show some really interesting trends over time too.
Data From Theme Reviews Shows Authors Need More Education on Developing Secure WordPress Themes – https://wptavern.com/data-from-theme-reviews-shows-authors-need-more-education-on-developing-secure-wordpress-themes – This isn’t really any great surprise. In my personal experience, I deal with a lot of poorly built company WordPress websites that have been built extremely badly and need full re-builds. Hopefully this will change over time and sharing best practices within the WordPress and business community through events like BeeWUG and others are one step towards making this better for everyone.
WordPress Relaunches Plugin Directory with New Design and Improved Search Algorithm – https://wptavern.com/wordpress-relaunches-plugin-directory-with-new-design-and-improved-search-algorithm – This should hopefully help you find the right plugins you are looking for. The old search functionality was extremely bad so it’s great to see this has been improved.
PHP 5.6 Is Now the Most Widely Used PHP Version – https://wptavern.com/php-5-6-is-now-the-most-widely-used-php-version – This is a step in the right direction. The current version of PHP is 7.2 so there is still a long way to go, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHP
GoDaddy Acquires Sucuri – https://wptavern.com/godaddy-acquires-sucuri – Interesting…
Foxhound Is the First REST API Powered Theme on WordPress.org – https://wptavern.com/foxhound-is-the-first-rest-api-powered-theme-on-wordpress-org – With the awesome REST API now available, we expect to see a lot more of this over the coming years as more people create much more dynamic websites using WordPress and even, dare I say, basic web applications.
Adding Images to WordPress Sidebars Is About to Get a Lot Easier – https://wptavern.com/adding-images-to-wordpress-sidebars-is-about-to-get-a-lot-easier
Yoast SEO 4.5 Urges Users to Upgrade to PHP 7 – https://wptavern.com/yoast-seo-4-5-urges-users-to-upgrade-to-php-7 – It’s good to see companies pushing this
Display All Images Sizes Plugin – https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/display-all-image-sizes/ – This is a seriously handy plugin that I came across recently. By default when you upload images to WordPress, multiple versions of that image are created in varying sizes, so that your website doesn’t load a huge image for people accessing on mobile devices for example. Although quite annoyingly, it is remarkably difficult to find out what these varying images sizes actually are as width and height attributes as there is no standard. This handy little plugin will let you know what the various images sizes are and what the specific URL is for each of the image sizes. This is super handy as you may want to use a specific size for something.
Finally, handy WordPress statistics for reference – https://wordpress.org/about/stats/

The next meetup is on Wednesday 3rd May, full details here, https://www.meetup.com/Blackburn-WordPress-Meetup/events/238835029/

BeeWUG 5th April 2017

Get involved and book here, https://www.meetup.com/Blackburn-WordPress-Meetup/events/238093976/

Be sure to subscribe to the mailing list on the right hand side to keep up to date with all future events and BeeWUG news.

WordPress is awesome, get involved!

Event Format

18:00 — Arrivals
18:30 — Prompt start – Talk – WordPress news
18:45 — Q&A – For topics covered and Michael’s WP update
19:00 — WP Clinic – Bring your laptop and get the hands on help you need from the WordPress community in the room
20:00 —Break & Networking
20:15 — In Depth Talk – Understanding the WordPress Template Hierarchy by Michael Cropper from Contrado Digital
21:00 — End

Event Information

Be sure to review the details about BeeWUG and how to get here. If you’d like to speak at one of our future events or even sponsor a future event, let us know.