Stick around for an incredibly rewarding performance by a diligent dancer…
In this edition:
- Is it possible for the web to be bizarre AND user-friendly simultaneously?
- The 6.8 Release Squad is gathered and poised to launch.
Content Warning: There’s a particularly silly knock-knock joke in this edition. Proceed with caution.
Fresh Off The Press: What’s Happening?
My Resolution is to Quit Procrastinating. Starting Tomorrow for Sure.
Welcome to 2025, you lovely being. I’ve missed you! How ARE you? You look fantastic. 
We’ve finally come out of our holiday roast potato daze, and we’re fully embracing the New Year vibe. Everyone’s “circling back” and “touching base” and “doing the hokey pokey” or something along those lines. We’ll just jump in and act like we’re on top of things.
We intended to ditch all our bad habits this year but hey… nobody enjoys a quitter.
So let’s kick off this year with enthusiasm and promise, like an excited child at the crest of a waterslide, ready to tumble in, shouting, with hair flying and swim trunks flapping, into 2025!
Knock knock.
Who’s there?
Radio.
Radio who?
Radio not, it’s a fresh year, baby!
Ooof… apologies for that. But anyway…
As Shania Says, “Let’s Go Girls!”
The WordPress community team has planned women-focused events for International Women’s Day (March 8th) in local WordPress communities around the globe.
We’re talking networking events, workshops, learning opportunities, talks and all that amazing, cooperative stuff. The initiative, suggested by Pooja Derashri, aims to “ignite meaningful discussions and inspire more women to join, lead, and contribute to WordPress.” We adore this!
Interested in hosting an event? Apply through the Creative WordPress Events Form. Want to pitch in by crafting banners, logos, and female Wapuu designs? Leave a comment on this post.
“Let’s Make the Web Bizarre Again!”
In a recent blog entry, Nick Hamze urges all creative individuals to “make the web bizarre again.”
Expressing concern over the uniform and tedious design of many websites, Nick encourages us to celebrate quirky and unique designs that genuinely represent our “individual voice and vision.” He even curated a selection of eccentric themes that reflect his vision, including an eye-catching 80s vaporwave style theme that we wish we had a reason to utilize.
Definitely, we’re absolutely fans of creativity, outside-the-box thinking, and quirky, character-filled websites. However, as Amber Hinds highlights, accessibility matters as well.
And when it comes to that, we’re with the Old El Paso kid who asks, “¿por qué no los dos?”
As Amber points out, “Themes can be both accessible and unique. These are not opposing objectives.” As Steve Jones adds, “Accessibility isn’t just a theme type. Every theme should strive for accessibility.”
There’s space for personal expression AND inclusivity online. Contemplating how to create accessible and user-friendly sites is part of the creative process.
As stated in the W3C Statement on Ethical Web Principles, “the web is intended for all individuals.” Yet, regrettably, this is far from the current reality. A new report indicates that no U.S. state website fully complies with the forthcoming Department of Justice accessibility standards. Over 96% of the top one million web pages globally are not compliant with WCAG 2 standards.
Does ensuring accessibility limit your design possibilities? Of course, it does to some extent. There are specific boundaries on what you can create while keeping it accessible.
But does that stifle your creativity? Not at all. Sometimes, constraints can fuel creativity and lead to innovative problem-solving.
Want to discover more about enhancing the accessibility of WordPress?
- This recent episode of the WP Tavern Jukebox podcast featuring accessibility expert Elena Brescacin is a must-listen.
- An insightful article by Vanessa Preast: “Digital Accessibility Myth #1: Accessibility Kills Creativity”
- Try WebAIM’s color contrast checker next time you need to choose font colors.
- And whatever you do… avoid AccessiBe, the dubious AI accessibility startup that just faced a one million dollar penalty from the FTC for misleading claims
Yikes.
6.8 Release Squad… Unite!
The lean, mean machine behind WordPress 6.8 was announced just a few days ago. This streamlined team is concentrating less on introducing new features this round and more on refining and fixing bugs, ensuring everything is as polished as possible.
The squad is led by Matt Mullenweg, with Jeffrey Paul and Michelle Frechette coordinating efforts.
In addition to Mullenweg and the coordinators, we have:
- Tech Leads: Joe McGill, Jonathan Desrosiers, George Mamadashvili
- Triage: Jb Audras
- Design: Tammie Lister
- Performance: Felix Arntz
- Testing: Krupa Nanda
So, why the minimalist approach? This smaller team continues the experiment that began with 6.7 by merging Marketing and Communications Lead responsibilities with Release Coordination, in order to gather more feedback on that experimentation.
It turns out, following the review of ongoing initiatives, the team concluded that fewer features were ready for release. Thus, WordPress 6.8 is sharply focused on stability and performance. However, should something exciting be ready, we are confident they won’t hold it back.
Important Dates to Remember
- Beta 1: March 4, 2025
- Release Candidate 1: March 25, 2025
- General Release: April 15, 2025
Want to participate? While the release squad has already been selected, it truly takes a community to develop a new version of WordPress. If you’re eager to lend a hand, join the #core channel on Slack, where the next weekly chat is taking place on Wednesday, January 15th at 8pm UTC.
One Final Silly Joke for You…
Did you hear about the chap who was apprehended for shoplifting a calendar on New Years?
He received 12 months.
Mind-Blowing Facts & Stats
- According to the Cloudflare Radar 2024 Year in Review, global internet traffic surged over 17% in 2024. While that may seem outrageous, it’s actually a slowdown compared to last year’s 25% growth. (Source)
- Over 41% of that traffic stemmed from mobile devices. Additionally, nearly 100 countries reported mobile traffic as the majority! For instance, over 77% of traffic came via mobile in Syria, Cuba, and Sudan. (Source)
- In 2024, there were around 4,740 improvements and fixes across all aspects of WordPress during the three major new releases. Talk about a makeover! (Source)
- Can you believe it’s already the 200th release of Gutenberg? And that it’s been four years since the 100th release? Time really does fly. (Source)
Blogs & Resources You Don’t Want to Overlook
A LOT happened in the realm of WordPress in 2024. Martin Dubovic at Themeisle provides a solid recap. | The 2024 WP Awards have been announced… and you can find the complete results here. | Stefana shares valuable insights on the art and strategy of community building. | “Sheep aren’t like ideas.” Seth Godin reflects on the magic of the commons. | Enjoy the free tools offered by Meta Box for custom fields and dynamic content? Now there’s a Lite version. | During this episode of the Seriously, Bud? Podcast, Bud Kraus engages in an intriguing conversation with Anna Hurko from Kherson, Ukraine, about running Crocoblock while trying to remain safe in the midst of conflict. | Karol Krol discovered a FREE method to export all your WordPress posts to Google Sheets… automatically. Can you believe it? That’s smart.
Coffee Break Distractions
Oohh this little song maker tool is so delightful… you could easily lose track of time on this one.
Or you might enjoy a classic but addictive game of Minesweeper.
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