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April 2017 WordPress News – This Month in WordPress w/ CodeinWP

 This is the April 2017 edition of “This Month in WordPress with CodeinWP.” 

April was a month of releases, improvements to popular products, and announcements of interesting upcoming events. Plus, like always, we saw some awesome articles written by our fellow WordPress enthusiasts, too!

However, at the same time, like every April, this one started with the April Fools’ Day too. To say the least, I did stumble upon some headlines that, despite sounding spectacular, turned out to be fake. Nevertheless, I guarantee that everything you read here is 100% real. 🙂

This is the April 2017 edition of “This Month in WordPress with CodeinWP.”

April 2017 in WordPress


WordPress 4.7.4 Maintenance Release

There’s a fresh new maintenance release of WordPress that takes care of 47 issues found in the code. The most notable of them being: an incompatibility between the upcoming Chrome version and the visual editor, improvements to the REST API, and inconsistencies in media handling.

But that’s not all. Follow the link above to get the full list of changes and improvements.

April 2017 WordPress news: New version of WordPress

WordPress Plugin Directory Restores Tabs
WordPress Plugin Directory Restores Tabbed Interface

Last month, we talked about the new design of the official plugin repository, with one of the changes being the removal of tabs from the plugin pages.

Well … those tabs are back now. The tabbed interface has been restored because of the negative community feedback. Basically, everyone found the change confusing and inferior to the previous look.

WordPress contributors submitted tickets regarding the unpleasant navigation given by the “read more” links, calling it “a usability nightmare”. So, by the end of April, Samuel Wood (by his nickname Otto) marked the ticket as fixed and the tabs returned to the repo. Everyone’s happy again.

You may also be interested in:


Jetpack 4.8: The Settings Redesign You’ve Been Waiting For

Speaking of redesigns, Jetpack has been doing a fair share of their own redesigning as well. In the plugin’s latest release, the settings panel has been re-built to deliver better experience and make everything easier to grasp in general. These improvements were promised to the audience a few months ago and they’re finally here now.

Along with the interface improvements, Jetpack 4.8 also comes with:

  • A global WordPress.com toolbar.
  • Sitemaps feature for sites with a very large number of posts (1000+).
  • New MailChimp subscriber popup widget.
Jetpack redesign

WooCommerce 3.0
WooCommerce 3.0 brings an improved product gallery, treats for developers and more

It’s WooCommerce’s turn to be upgraded! Version 3.0 is out and brings some interesting features. By the way, this is the first major release under the new versioning scheme, from two-digit to a three-digit format (3.0.0)

Here’s what’s in WooCommerce 3.0:

  • New product gallery.
  • Performance improvements.
  • CRUD classes.
  • Improved log system.
  • Better CLI.

For more information, click on the link above.


WordCamp for Publishers to be Held in Denver, August 17-19

Wow, WordPress publishers will have their own WordCamp soon! Journalists, bloggers, copywriters, owners of publications of any type or size, come unite in Denver this summer on August 17-19!

At first, the organizers wanted to call it “WordCamp for Journalists” but then decided to use a broader term so it can fit all professional publishers who work with WordPress.

Unlike other WordCamps, this event will come with a combination of presentations and workshops. If you’re in the publishers’ boat, the call for speakers has already been issued and there are only two weeks left for registration.

WordCamp for Publishers

Great Articles From Around The Web

Blog Helper: An Alexa Skill for Managing a WordPress Blog with Your Voice

I thought it was going to take much longer until we would be able to use Alexa to manage our blogs with. Picture yourself doing the dishes while asking your WordPress blog helper to tell you the news and the latest entries from the comments section, or to start a new draft for you. How futuristic does that sound?

‘Secure’ in Chrome Browser Does Not Mean ‘Safe’

The HTTPS label next to your web address tells everyone that your site is secure. But, according to Wordfence, it’s a long way from “secure” to “safe”. Check this out to find out what Wordfence is getting at.

An Encyclopedia of Essential Widgets for WordPress

Everybody is talking about plugins most of the time, but widgets are important for a WordPress site too. Read WPMU DEV’s post featuring the best must-have widgets for your personal or professional use.

Top 6 WordPress Project Management Plugins

Sometimes, organizing a big team and managing the entire process of building a product – from idea and concept to the actual implementation and the risks that come with it – takes more time than the actual work itself. These six plugins can help.

Improving Content and Conversation Quality in the AWP Facebook Group

The official WordPress Facebook group changes its core rule – all new posts are no longer automatically approved. From now on, the admins will filter the entries and decide what gets seen and what doesn’t. So, if you plan to submit a post to the Advanced WordPress Facebook Group, check out Matt’s explanation first to get a grasp on how to get your post approved.

10 Actionable Marketing Tactics To Market Your WordPress Product

Building a great WordPress product is only half the battle. The other half is getting it in front of an audience that cares. Here’s a list of ideas on how to make that happen. By Cozmoslabs.

28 Most Frequently Asked Questions by WordPress Beginners

A really good roundup of the most frequent questions that beginner users tend to have about WordPress. Covers pretty much everything related to building, setting up, and managing a WordPress site correctly.

Use the New (Free) Audio Story Images Plugin to Add Audio to Your WordPress Images

There’s this new free plugin that adds audio to your WordPress images. With it, you can create beautiful slideshows and tutorials that speak or can be accompanied by music.

That’s it for April 2017. Anything we missed?

 

 
Adelina Tuca

5 Comments
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Agha zahid Ali
May 14, 2017 11:06 am

Introduce what for this

Agha zahid Ali
May 8, 2017 9:31 pm

while learning writing good forum will be helpfull.

cyberstreets
May 6, 2017 9:40 am

The Audio Stories plugin is so fantastic!! My brain is hurting from thinking of so many ways to use it. Thank you for sharing. 🙂

Adelina Tuca
May 8, 2017 11:57 am
Reply to  cyberstreets

Ha ha, good luck then! Glad you discovered something new from our post. 🙂

Agha zahid Ali
May 2, 2017 5:38 pm

too much costly.When writing.Every time asking ammount.As retired person with low income cannot efford to fulll fill story writting.I have no interest gaining any kind of bussiness on to writing memories

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