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A recent episode of the Crossword podcast had me thinking about offering criticism constructively in open source projects. Jonathan Wold and Luke Carbis were discussing the new Notes feature in WordPress 6.9, which was added as a building block for real-time collaboration. Luke mentioned how he was curious about the reasoning behind the related technical decisions. He was having some difficulties and was a bit concerned about the choice to use the preexisting Comments APIs with a new comment type to build out the Notes feature. The part of this conversation that I really found interesting was when they discussed how it was unfair to the contributors who did work on the feature for him to complain or criticize without knowing the full background of why it was built in the way that it was. I’ve heavily condensed and paraphrased, so I definitely recommend giving the episode a full listen. This premise stuck with me and sent me down several rabbit holes, each one leading to a different dynamic within open source communities. When is it acceptable to be critical in open source? Is it fair to offer criticism when you don’t have all of the information? If so, what is the right way to go about sharing? Who is allowed to criticize? When is it appropriate to solely observe rather than attempt to participate? How do you transition from an observer to a participant? Let’s dig into these questions a bit more. Who Can Contribute? The simple answer to this question is anyone and everyone, of course! It is open source after all! But don’t stop reading because it’s not actually that simple. While everyone can participate, there are so many forces at play that impact how you should contribute. Knowing what these are, understanding them, and being able to recognize them can help make your open source journey a more successful and rewarding one. I won’t be covering contributing from the perspective of specific disciplines (ie. code, documentation, testing, etc.), or even different ways of contributing (ie. financial, time-based, etc.). Instead I’m looking to define two broad “states” of contributing, how to move back and forth between these two groups, and how to communicate better so that everyone feels welcome to contribute. First let’s establish what these two groups of contributors are. CC0 licensed photo by Blazej Zablotny from the WordPress Photo Directory. Passive Contributing Whether they know it or not, every single user and consumer of an open source project contributes back in some way. When you use a piece of software (whether it’s open source or not), you are using your voice (and in some cases, your wallet) to communicate that the software is valuable to you. “This piece of software solves a problem that I have.” Over time, continued usage turns into a second layer of feedback. “This piece of software continues to solve a problem that I have well enough to continue using it.” I like to think of this as “passive contributing” because it happens naturally through the normal use of software without any additional level of effort required. The examples I gave above are the most simple and pure examples of passive contribution and may not seem that useful. But passive contributions can be quite significant at scale. Every WordPress site checks if there are available updates for plugins, themes, and Core itself every 12 hours. However, a few details are needed to ensure an accurate answer is given, such as the version of WordPress the site is currently running, the site’s PHP and database versions, the PHP extensions loaded, etc.. Now consider this happening across tens of millions of WordPress sites. This becomes metric-based telemetry and the data helps paint a larger picture of what the “typical” environment is for a WordPress site. This data allows contributors to make well-informed decisions about the software itself. What should the minimum required version of PHP be? Should a native PHP extension be required to run WordPress? Understanding the actual real-world state is essential before making certain changes, especially in a project so staunchly committed to backward compatibility such as WordPress. Untapped Potential In many ways, this group is the most exciting one in open source. There is so much potential to tap into! One thing that I’ve learned is that you never know what will inspire someone or how they will discover contributing. This is just one compelling reason to underscore the importance of working in the open. “Each interaction with a user is an opportunity to get a new participant.” Producing Open Source Software – Carl Fogel As maintainers of open source, we need to consider this group as much as possible. Since most passive contributors are simply users, the user-focused philosophies of the WordPress project help to keep this group front of mind. CC0 licensed photo by Blazej Zablotny from the WordPress Photo Directory. Active Contributing Conversely, if someone contributes to an open source project knowingly, they fall into the second type: active. These contributors are the backbone of every open source software project. They’re intentionally spending their time filing bug reports, building out new features and APIs, reviewing patches, translating strings, writing documentation, and so much more. In an ideal world, many more passive contributors are activated than the number of active ones who leave a project to ensure growth. But be warned, if you’re ill-prepared to support newly activated contributors, they can easily become ghosts that quietly haunt the halls of your project. Some Additional Considerations I tried to clearly define these two buckets to encompass everyone. But like the question of “who can contribute?”, there is additional nuance to be aware of. Awareness Of Passivity One important thing to note is that individuals may not even be aware of the fact that they are passively contributing. Some (likely most) have no idea about what contributing is or how it works. In other cases, someone can be aware and intentionally choose to remain passive. This was the case

Ever wanted to create quizzes that guide visitors to exactly what they need? Imagine a quick “Find Your Perfect Product” quiz on your store… customers answer a few questions, and instantly see a personalized recommendation. Or a placement test that automatically sorts students into the right course level. Quizzes like these boost engagement, capture emails, and turn undecided browsers into confident buyers. Sadly, most quiz tools are either frustratingly expensive, too basic to be useful, or so complicated that you need a developer just to set up the scoring. It simply shouldn’t be this hard to ask your visitors a few questions and show them a result. That’s why today, I’m excited to announce the Quiz Addon by WPForms.  As you know, WPForms is the #1 form builder trusted by over 6 million websites. With the Quiz Addon, you can now create graded tests, personality quizzes, and weighted assessments right inside the form builder you already know and love. Whether you run an online store, teach courses, or offer consulting services, you can build professional quizzes that actually work… without the headache or the hefty price tag. Background Story – Why the Quiz Addon? For years, WPBeginner readers have asked us the same question: “What’s the best way to add a quiz to my WordPress site?” And for years, the honest answer was… it’s complicated. The dedicated quiz plugins either looked outdated, charged premium prices for basic features, or required hours of configuration just to get the scoring right.  I’ve watched store owners give up on product recommendation quizzes, course creators abandon placement tests, and coaches scrap lead qualification ideas… all because the tools made simple things feel impossible. Meanwhile, businesses with big budgets were using quizzes to dramatically boost conversions. Product finders that reduce cart abandonment. Personality quizzes that segment email lists automatically. Assessments that qualify leads before the sales call. These weren’t fancy nice-to-haves. They were proven conversion tools that most WordPress site owners simply couldn’t access. That didn’t sit right with me. So I challenged my team at WPForms to build something different: a quiz solution as powerful as the expensive standalone tools, but as easy as creating a contact form. That’s exactly what the Quiz Addon delivers. If you’d rather watch the video, here is what WPForms Quiz addon is. What is WPForms Quiz Addon? The WPForms Quiz Addon is a powerful extension that lets you create three types of quizzes directly inside the WPForms builder: 1. Graded Quizzes: Perfect when questions have right and wrong answers. Ideal for knowledge checks, course assessments, employee training, trivia contests, or classroom tests. You set the correct answers, define your grading scale, and WPForms calculates scores automatically. 2. Personality Quizzes: Best when you want to match visitors to outcomes rather than score them. Create “Which Product Is Right for You?” recommendations or “What’s Your Leadership Style?” assessments. Each answer maps to a personality type, and WPForms determines the match based on your outcomes. 3. Weighted Quizzes: Ideal when some answers should count more than others. Assign point values to each choice and trigger different outcomes based on score ranges. This is how you build lead qualification quizzes, readiness assessments, or risk scoring tools that actually work. The best part? You can describe the quiz you want in plain English, and WPForms AI will build it for you… complete with questions, answer mappings, and outcomes. No templates to customize for hours. A working quiz, ready to publish. Personality Quizzes That Match Visitors to the Right Outcome Ever taken a quiz that tells you which character you are, or what product fits your style? That’s a personality quiz… and now you can build them directly in WPForms. Each answer choice maps to an outcome, and WPForms determines the best match based on how someone responds.  You define your possible results (called personality types), then assign every answer choice to one of those types. When someone completes the quiz, WPForms tallies their responses and shows the matching outcome automatically. This opens up powerful possibilities: Product recommendations:Ask about preferences, needs, or budget, then guide customers to exactly the right product with a direct link to purchase. Service matching: Help prospects self-select the right package or tier before they ever contact you. Lead segmentation: Automatically categorize subscribers by interest, experience level, or buying intent. Engagement quizzes: Create fun “What Type of [X] Are You?” quizzes that drive shares and grow your email list. No manual sorting. No complex scoring formulas. Just questions, mapped answers, and personalized results. Graded Quizzes That Score Answers Automatically When questions have right or wrong answers, you need a graded quiz. WPForms calculates scores automatically — you just set the correct answers and define your grading scale. For each question, mark which answer is correct (or for text fields, enter the accepted answers). Then customize your grading scale by setting percentage ranges for each letter grade. When someone submits, they instantly see their score, percentage, or letter grade. You can also enable instant feedback that reveals whether each answer was right or wrong as quiz takers progress — perfect for practice tests where learning happens in the moment. This makes graded quizzes ideal for: Course assessments: Test knowledge before or after lessons, with automatic scoring that saves hours of manual grading. Placement tests: Use conditional outcomes to route people to different results based on their score. High scorers see advanced content; lower scorers get beginner recommendations. Training and certification: Create timed assessments for employee onboarding, compliance training, or skill verification. Trivia and contests: Run scored quizzes for engagement, giveaways, or community building. No spreadsheets. No manual calculations. Just instant, accurate results. Weighted Quizzes That Score Based on Value, Not Right or Wrong Sometimes there’s no correct answer — but some answers should count more than others. That’s where weighted quizzes come in. Instead of marking answers as right or wrong, you assign a numeric weight (0-99) to each choice. WPForms totals the weights from selected answers, and you use

If shoppers can’t find what they want in your WooCommerce store within a few clicks, they’ll leave. And that’s exactly what happens to many small business owners. As their product catalogs grow, they lose potential customers because they can’t easily filter products. That’s why I decided to look for a solution. I needed a way to add advanced filters without hiring a developer to build them from scratch. So, I tested a range of WooCommerce filter plugins and ended up using WPFilters. It gave me the exact filters I needed without feeling heavy or complicated. For this roundup, I’ve narrowed things down to the 7 best options. Whether you have 50 products or 500, these plugins can help customers find what they need faster and help you increase conversions. 📈 Quick Comparison: 7 Best WooCommerce Filter Plugins Before I go into the full reviews, here’s a quick comparison to help you see how the top WooCommerce filter plugins compare to each other: # Plugin Free Plan Starting Price (/yr) Best For 🥇 WPFilters ❌ $49 No-code filtering across products & all kinds of WordPress content 🥈 Themify WooCommerce Product Filter ✅ $89 Themify theme users 🥉 YITH WooCommerce Ajax Product Filter ✅ €89.99 Beginner-friendly product filtering with a free option 4 JetSmartFilters ❌ $43 Elementor, Gutenberg, and other page builder layouts 5 Barn2 WooCommerce Product Filters ❌ $79 Large catalogs 6 Husky – Products Filter ✅ $42 Developers & advanced users 7 Filter Everything ✅ Free Budget users Why Use WooCommerce Product Filters? Product filters help customers narrow down their choices quickly, without scrolling through dozens of pages in your WooCommerce store. When someone visits your online store looking for a specific item, they want to find it fast. Filters by price, color, size, or category make it easy. Without filters, shoppers can get frustrated and leave without buying. WooCommerce offers some product filtering options by default, which you can place in sidebars, above product grids, or inside custom layouts. And filter plugins allow you to further refine and control your filters. They work with your WooCommerce theme and page builder, so setup stays simple. You can also connect filters to custom fields, taxonomies, and product attributes without touching any code. This can help you give customers the fast, smooth browsing experience they expect. 🛍️ Inside My Testing Process for WooCommerce Filter Plugins I tested these plugins by installing each one on a live WooCommerce store across multiple products and categories. I wanted to see which ones felt practical, fast, and beginner-friendly. Setup and configuration: I installed each plugin and tracked how long it took to get basic filters working. Filter types and flexibility: I tested checkboxes, dropdowns, sliders, and color swatches to see which options each plugin supported. Performance and speed: I tested how quickly filtered results appeared and whether they updated smoothly without refreshing the page. Mobile experience: I checked how filters displayed on phones and tablets to ensure they stayed usable. Customization options: I explored layout settings, styling controls, and placement options to see how much design freedom each plugin offered. Compatibility: I tested each plugin with popular themes and page builders to check for conflicts. Pricing and support: I compared free versus premium features and reviewed documentation quality. This helped me find plugins that balance power with ease of use for everyday store owners. Why Trust My Recommendations At WPBeginner, we’ve spent more than 17 years helping WordPress users build online stores — from first-time shop owners to growing businesses. I personally have tested dozens of WooCommerce plugins, including many different product filtering tools. For this roundup, I tested each WooCommerce filter plugin for filtering speed, ease of setup, customization options, and compatibility with popular themes and page builders. I also checked how well they handle large product catalogs and mobile shoppers. You can read more about our process in our editorial guidelines. Now, let’s take a closer look at the best WooCommerce filter plugins. 1. WPFilters 🎖️ Best All-Around WooCommerce Filter Plugin with a No-Code Setup Pros of WPFilters ✅ No-code setup with seamless WordPress block editor integration✅ Filters WooCommerce products and other content like posts and digital downloads✅ Works with categories, tags, and custom fields✅ Supports AJAX live filtering and search✅ Shareable filtered results URLs✅ Mobile-friendly and responsive Cons of WPFilters ❌ Advanced customization requires learning block settings❌ Pricing tiers vary based on sites and support level Pricing Starts at $49/year Best For Store owners who want no-code filtering across products and other content types. WPFilters is the best option for flexible product filtering without touching code. You can think of it as adding Amazon-style filters to your store. I used it to add filters not only to my shop pages but also to blog posts and digital downloads, making the browsing experience consistent across my entire site. For more insights into the plugin, see our detailed WPFilters review. My Experience I started by creating a filter set for my shop page, and the setup was much easier than I expected. During setup, I added filters for price, category, and product attributes right inside the WordPress admin area. One feature that made WPFilters especially useful for larger catalogs was the ability to share filter URLs. Here’s how it works: When customers apply filters, the URL is updated automatically. Meaning that they could bookmark specific searches or share links with friends. And what impressed me most was that WPFilters integrates perfectly with the WordPress block editor. I could add and arrange filter blocks visually alongside my product grid, and preview changes instantly before publishing. On the front end, the filters appear as clean panels that integrate nicely with the store layout. Customers can apply multiple filters at once, see results update instantly (AJAX), and remove any filter with a single click. Other than WooCommerce products, WPFilters also allows you to filter other content types like blog posts and digital downloads. I set up a filter for posts by category, and it worked just as smoothly as the product filters. This flexibility extends

Hi, there this week, you’ll find a great mix of new releases, new tools, new plugins and events. Outside the WordPress sphere I signed up for the FediForum Un-Workshop, an event bringing together people who will discuss obstacles and ideas on growing the Open Social Web. It’ll be a three-hour virtual event on March 12, 2026. It’s on the same day as Human Made’s WP:26 event, though. I hope you enjoy this week’s edition and I wish you a great weekend! Yours, Birgit Human Made announced WP:26, a virtual event on March 12th exploring where WordPress is heading this year. You’ll hear from Mary Hubbard (WordPress executive director), speakers from Pantheon, Yoast, News UK, and PMC on topics like hybrid CMS architectures, agentic AI systems, and the CMS as orchestration layer. Following last year’s WP:25 with 700+ attendees, this one targets digital leaders, architects, and teams betting on WordPress long-term—registration is open now. It’s free and will be recorded, I reckon. WordCamp Asia communication team is publishing great content to get ready for the event: Tickets are still available, Sponsorships as well and you can learn more about Mumbai, Indian culture and food. The WordCamp will take place between April 9 and 11, 2026. The first rounds of speakers are announced, too. Will I see you there? It would be wonderful to meet you! You are welcome to use my public calendar to schedule a meeting. If WordCamp Asia is not on your radar, check out the WordCamp calendar for in person or educational event closer to you or on a different date. Developing Gutenberg and WordPress WordPress 6.9.1 RC1 is now available. Led by Aaron Jorbin and Aki Hamano, the final release is planned for February 3, 2026. You can test using the Beta Tester plugin, WP-CLI, or a direct download. This maintenance release addresses bugs introduced in 6.9, with 23 Core fixes and 25 Block Editor fixes. Notable corrections include mail function errors, broken styling on the Add Plugins screen, widget accessibility issues, and several Interactivity API router fixes. Gutenberg 22.5 RC 1 is also available for testing. The final release is scheduled for February 4, 2025. It will bring practical refinements for your editing workflow. You can now add custom CSS to individual blocks, and the Image block shows aspect ratio controls for wide and full alignments. List View gets more useful with full block titles and actual content displayed for list items. The release also stabilizes viewport-based block visibility and pattern editing, plus adds focal point controls for fixed Cover backgrounds and text column support for Paragraphs. Mary Hubbard, executive director of WordPress open-source project, outlines the big picture goals for WordPress in 2026, signaling a return to three releases annually with WordPress 7.0 arriving at WordCamp Asia. You’ll see real-time co-editing move into Phase 3: Collaboration, client-side media processing graduate to Core, and new blocks like Tabs and Icon ship out of the box. What I am most excited about is Hubbard’s emphasis on WordPress meetups as the primary front door to contribution and calls on Make teams to prepare clearer onboarding paths for incoming contributors. If there isn’t a WordPress Meetup in your city or region, the community team would love to help you start one. Before my year-end vacation I collaborated with co-organizers, and we revitalized the München WordPress Meetup. If you are in the city, join us on February 11 at 19:00. Or every second Wednesday of the month. Anne McCarthy shares her latest round of exploring work in progress for WordPress 7.0, with beta 1 just weeks away. You’ll find hands-on looks at real-time collaboration transport layers, visual revisions, responsive block hiding, customizable navigation overlays, and the Cover block’s new video embed support. The Gallery block gains lightbox navigation, while Tabs and Breadcrumbs blocks continue maturing. McCarthy encourages you to test via WordPress Playground and to leave feedback on GitHub. David Smith posted a call for testing customizable navigation mobile overlays targeting WordPress 7.0. This feature finally gives you full control over mobile hamburger menus using blocks and patterns—add branding, calls-to-action, images, and custom styling instead of being stuck with WordPress defaults. Overlays are saved as template parts, so themes can ship their own variations. Feedback is requested by February 9th, with a ready-to-go Playground instance for quick testing. Your feedback would ddirectly shapes what ships in core—catching bugs, validating UX decisions, and surfacing edge cases before millions of sites receive the update. It’s one of the most impactful ways to contribute to WordPress without writing code, and the Test Team provides clear scenarios and templates for reporting issues. Give it a whirl, and learn first hand how this new feature works. The latest episode is Gutenberg Changelog #125 – WordPress 6.9, Gutenberg 22.1 and Gutenberg 22.2 with JC Palmes, WebDev Studios Ryan Welcher highlights the most important updates from the What’s New for Developer (January 2026) post in his latest video: Responsive Grids, PHP Blocks, Smarter Tools: WordPress in January. Brandon Payton published wp-playground, a new AI agent skill that lets tools like Claude Code and Codex run WordPress via the Playground CLI for fast, repeatable testing. The skill auto-detects where your code belongs—mounting plugins or themes by recognizing file signatures—and reduces the “ready to test” moment from roughly a minute to a few seconds. You can install it via npx openskills install WordPress/agent-skills, and contributions are welcome at the new WordPress/agent-skills repository. Plugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners Varun Dubey‘s comprehensive look at Gutenberg blocks in 2026 and WordPress development in the AI era walks you through how the block revolution has fundamentally shifted WordPress workflows. You’ll find practical guidance on when to choose patterns over custom blocks, explore emerging AI tools like WordPress Telex and Kadence’s inline generation, and understand why block metadata makes AI integration particularly powerful. Solid reading whether you’re building blocks or simply trying to keep pace with where WordPress is heading. Troy Chaplin‘s Block Finder plugin gives you a

Faster Way For AI Agents To Test AI code agents are getting better at writing WordPress plugins and themes, but testing can still be the slow part. WordPress contributor Brandon Payton has published wp-playground, a new AI agent skill designed to run WordPress via the Playground CLI, giving agents a fast, repeatable way to run WordPress and verify their work as they iterate. “AI agents work better when they have a clear feedback loop. That’s why I made the wp-playground skill. It gives agents an easy way to test WordPress code and makes building and experimenting with WordPress a lot more accessible.” — Brandon Payton, WordPress Contributor What the Playground skill does When launched, the skill starts WordPress and detects where the current code should live inside a WordPress install. For example, it can mount a plugin into wp-content/plugins or a theme into wp-content/themes by recognizing common file signatures (such as plugin headers or a theme’s style.css). This helps agents move from “generated code” to “running site” with fewer manual steps. Install and try it today. Find more information on this GitHub link: WordPress AI Agent Skills Early results and testing workflow In testing, agents were able to start WordPress, build playful plugins, and validate behavior in a tight feedback loop. Once Playground was running, the agent alternated between tools such as curl and Playwright to interact with WordPress, verify results, apply fixes when needed, and then re-verify with Playground. Faster startup and smoother iteration Helper scripts handle startup and shutdown, so an agent doesn’t waste time guessing when WordPress is ready. Using helper scripts reduced the “ready to test” moment from roughly a minute to a few seconds on the author’s machine. The Playground CLI can also log in automatically for easier WP-Admin access during testing. Install and try it now For those who want to try it in Claude Code, Codex, or another AI agent, installation requires Node.js and npm and looks like this: # Run this in a project directory to install the skills for that project npx openskills install WordPress/agent-skills # Make skills available to non-Claude agentsnpx openskills sync A new repo for WordPress agent skills This release also comes with a new home for this kind of work: https://github.com/WordPress/agent-skills. It’s an early step in exploring how AI agents can collaborate with WordPress tooling, and contributions from the community are welcome. Future additions being explored include persistent Playground sites based on the current directory, running commands against an existing Playground instance (including wp-cli), and Blueprint generation.

Welcome to the January 2026 edition of WPBeginner Spotlight! This month, we’re looking at new tools to help you clean up your WordPress media library, fine-tune cookie consent banners, and preview design changes faster. We’re also covering fresh updates across forms, fundraising, and site management, including new features from WPForms, Charitable, WPCode, and Formidable Forms. Let’s dive in and take a look at what’s new in the WordPress ecosystem. ℹ️ WPBeginner Spotlight brings you a monthly roundup of the most important WordPress news, updates, and community happenings. 📅✨ Got something to share? Whether it’s a new product launch, a significant update, or an exciting event, reach out to us through our contact form, and your news could be featured in the next edition! 💬 Reclaim WordPress Disk Space and Cut Hosting Costs with WP Media Cleanup WP Media Cleanup is a new plugin from the team behind Duplicator that helps you find unused WordPress images in your media library and remove them safely. Whether you manage one site or fifty, it’s a simple way to reclaim disk space, reduce hosting bills, and speed up site maintenance tasks. It’s helpful because WordPress creates multiple image sizes for every upload (thumbnails, medium, large, and more). Over time, those extra files can pile up and quietly eat up your storage space. That’s a problem because unused image files can make backups bigger, slow down migrations, and increase hosting storage usage. Manually figuring out which image sizes are safe to delete is also time-consuming and easy to get wrong. Here’s how WP Media Cleanup helps: Scan your site to check media usage across posts, pages, widgets, and theme settings Review a clear report of unused image sizes Delete in bulk or review items one-by-one (original uploads are never touched) Undo if needed (deleted files are kept for 30 days so you can restore them quickly) Simply run a scan, and it will show you all the unused images and their variations that you can safely delete from your media library. Your deleted images are then moved into a separate temporary location for 30 days. And the best part is that you can undo your action by simply restoring it if needed. For more details, read the full announcement. WP Media Cleanup is available as a standalone plugin (starting at $29/yr). It is also included bundled in the Duplicator Pro Elite plan. WPForms Launches Quiz Addon to Help Users Build Interactive Quizzes in Minutes WPForms has officially launched its new Quiz Addon, making it easy for WordPress users to create interactive quizzes without complex setup, third-party tools, or expensive software. Quizzes are widely used for engagement, education, and lead qualification. However, building them has traditionally required conditional logic, manual scoring, and extra testing to make sure everything works correctly. The Quiz Addon is designed to simplify quiz setup, scoring, and results tracking in WordPress. Users can get started with the WPForms AI form builder or choose a ready-made quiz template. The addon works inside the WPForms drag-and-drop builder, so you can create a quiz and manage entries without leaving WordPress. WPForms Quiz Addon supports three quiz types: Graded quizzes for assessments, training, and educational content. Personality quizzes for engagement, recommendations, and lead generation. Weighted quizzes for advanced scoring and qualification based on answer values. Quiz results flow directly into WPForms’ entry management system, where you can view detailed responses, analyze performance, and export results for reporting or collaboration. Results can also trigger notifications, email sequences, or CRM integrations based on quiz outcomes. Considering WPForms’ recent automation integrations with n8n and Make.com, this allows site owners to create smarter workflows based on quiz responses. The Quiz Addon is included with WPForms Pro and higher plans. WordPress Shares Big Picture Goals for 2026 Mary Hubbard, Executive Director of WordPress.org, shared big picture goals for 2026 in a recent post. This year, there will be a strong focus on building momentum, improving collaboration, and making it easier for contributors to participate across the WordPress project. A key highlight is the return to three WordPress releases per year, with WordPress 7.0 planned to launch alongside WordCamp Asia (April 9, 2026). The release is positioned as a major step into Phase 3: Collaboration. WordPress 7.0 Update 💡: The new release is expected to bring real-time co-editing to the block editor, along with improvements to media handling, responsive design controls, and new creative tools to make site building faster and more flexible. Beyond Core development, the roadmap also talks about responsible AI adoption, stronger community onboarding, and more investment in meetups and education programs to support long-term growth. Charitable Adds Built-In Security, Spam Protection, and Easier Donation Cleanup Charitable has released new security and spam-prevention features designed to help nonprofits protect their donation forms while keeping the experience smooth for supporters. Donation spam is a growing issue for fundraising websites because it fills dashboards with fake entries, harms reports, and wastes valuable time. Charitable’s latest updates focus on stopping abuse early while making cleanup easier when spam does slip through. Charitable Lite now includes built-in CAPTCHA support, while Charitable Pro adds advanced controls, such as IP management and rate limiting, for layered protection across donation forms, registrations, and other submission flows. For organizations managing large campaigns, these updates help keep donor records accurate, reports meaningful, and fundraising workflows distraction-free. The updates are now available in both Charitable Lite and Charitable Pro. WPConsent Adds Advanced Display Rules for Cookie Consent Banners WPConsent, the popular privacy compliance plugin for WordPress, has introduced advanced display rules that let you control when and where cookie consent banners appear. This can help you stay compliant with privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA while cutting down on unnecessary popups. With this update, you can decide who sees the banner based on login status, user roles, or specific pages. For example, you can hide the popup for admins and other logged-in users while they’re working in the dashboard. The new controls also help businesses avoid distractions during