Stick around until the finish to witness a baby penguin that, for some peculiar reason, exudes the energy of a 58-year-old mobster.
In this issue:
- Greetings to all those in Portland snapping selfies with individuals IRL they’ve collaborated/gossiped with on Slack for a long time.
- Etch, please! Kevin Geary tries to create FOMO with his significant, bold launch.
- The Eddie Money parody nobody asked for.
Hot Off The Presses: What’s New?
WP Event Organizers Can Now Enjoy a Bit of Marketing Budget, As a Treat
WordCamp US is in full swing! If you’re attending, enjoy a West Coast IPA at the Upright Brewing taproom on our behalf. Need guidance on navigating around? Cami Kaos has put together a fantastic guide.
In relation to WordPress Events, Rocio Valdivia, the Global Community Teams Programs Manager, recently introduced a proposal to allocate a segment of the WordPress Events/WordCamp budget towards marketing and advertising.
The aim? To draw in more newcomers to their events — targeting at least 50% first-time attendees.
WordCamp organizers will receive an impressive $50-$400 per event to facilitate this.
This marks the first instance in the 21-year history of WordPress that organizers have been granted an advertising budget. After WordCamp Netherlands was rescheduled due to low ticket sales, it seems that traditional word of mouth isn’t sufficient anymore.
The preferred channels for utilizing these funds include event directories, online calendars, newsletter listings, influencer collaborations, and even posters, flyers, and banners placed strategically. (It’s surprising they didn’t suggest homemade ‘zines, viral chain emails, or simply everyone embedding the event info in their AOL screen names.)
You might wonder about targeted campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, as well as TV, radio, and newspaper ads? These should only be contemplated once the prior options have been thoroughly explored, as they can “quickly deplete a budget.”
Ultimately, the crucial aspect will be nailing the targeting. Any funds allocated to advertising will be wasted if it isn’t reaching the right audience.
Will Etch end up being just a bit… Sketchy? Only time will reveal.
Kevin Geary, creator of Automatic.css and Frames, recently announced the launch (sort of) of Etch, heralded as the most significant WP announcement in two decades.
From what we’ve gathered, it aims to be an all-in-one builder that manages page creation, CPTs, SEO, and all other developer-related tasks, all from a single location without the hassle of switching between plugins and various user interfaces.
The project’s conception seems to stem from Kevin’s annoyance with the need for “context-switching” while working in WordPress.
It appears he doesn’t follow the same strategy as the rest of us — having 4,967 tabs open at once.
But anyway… the twist? Etch doesn’t exist… yet. It’s merely an idea, slated for completion in about three years.
Kevin opted for an unconventional funding route, appealing directly to the community to contribute upfront at a minimum buy-in amount of $499 to finance his theoretical product.
Reportedly, Kev mentioned during his livestream (which Mañana No Mas! founder Kurt von Ahnen noted evoked memories of Jim Carrey’s Fire Marshall Bill) that those who don’t immediately buy into his vision are simply “negative nancies” and “haters.”
Well… call me Nancy if that suits you, but isn’t it logical to want to see more than just a panel of white gentlemen validating that your product will indeed be something? I don’t know… perhaps a visual aid, a demo, a figma file, an MVP, or even a Q&A? Kevin – can you show us anything?!
It appears Kevin is following the “get the audience to fund the creation of the product” approach he discussed on this podcast appearance a few years back.
Lawrence Ladomery highlights in his response that it’s a clever method to offload the financial risk of failure. Kev has attracted considerable attention through his critiques. Yet, he will ultimately need to back it up with an actual product.
Can Kev and the team bring Etch to life? Promising to create something that will replace everything else is a hefty claim. I guess we’ll just have to wait a few years and see.
Cheers on Your Funding Round, Patchstack!
Meanwhile, Patchstack, a product that exists in reality, has raised $5 million in a Series A funding round led by Karma Ventures, with additional contributions from G+D Ventures and Emilia Capital, the investment firm co-founded by Yoast creators Joost de Valk and Marieke van de Rakt.
Founded in Estonia, Patchstack is a cybersecurity company that helps developers avoid sleepless nights by quickly identifying, prioritizing, and mitigating new vulnerabilities. Their “virtual patches” instantly provide protection for your site — much like having a Kevin McCallister on your side 24/7, setting up traps for pesky virtual intruders.
Patchstack recently launched their free tool, co-funded by the EU, to assist open-source software vendors in complying with the upcoming Cyber Resilience Act. Presently, more than 5 million websites are scanned using Patchstack, and their clientele includes major players like GoDaddy, Plesk/cPanel, and Digital Ocean.
They possess impressively unique access to vulnerability data thanks to a gamified bug bounty program, attracting a legion of ethical hackers to uncover vulnerabilities. (If you see yourself as a bug hunter, the top spot on the leaderboard each month earns $2k!)
We’ve got two tickets to paradise; will you join us in The Hub tonight…
We’ve got a surprise for you
Something that developers and agencies have been wanting
You’ve waited so long, waited so long…
You’ve waited so long, waited so long…
We’re going to eliminate those lengthy email chaaains
And a concise ticket system, baby, is all that will remain
You’ve waited so long, waited so long…
You’ve waited so long, waited so long…
Mind-Blowing Facts & Stats
- Security best practices advocate for plugin auto-updates, but according to the annual WordPress Security survey published by Melapress, only 30% of users concerned about plugin or theme-related security have enabled auto-updates. Get on it! (Source)
- The Gender Equality in WordPress Business report is out and the statistics are disappointing, folks. Out of the 200 companies committed to Five for the Future, only 4% are led by women.
(Source) - Some intriguing statistics on the WordPress Contribution Health Dashboards. For instance, WP 6.6 features 38% new developers. (Source)
- WP 6.6.2 has been released, including 15 bug fixes in Core and 11 in the Block Editor. Hooray! (Source)
Deep Dive: How to Minimize Context Switching as a WordPress Developer
Context switching is indeed a hassle, draining your productivity as a developer. Gloria Mark discovered in her study “The Cost of Interrupted Work” that it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus after shifting mental gears.
Whenever you switch between different projects, languages, tools, or even varying types of tasks like coding, debugging, or client discussions, you must “reload” your brain with all the relevant info about the new task. According to a Collaboration Study by Livecycle, nearly 50% of developers are grappling with this challenge in their current workflows.
So, how can you prevent that loss of momentum and keep yourself in a state of deep work? Here are some strategies:
- Designate meeting-free days, or at least sizable periods of time when you’re not available. As Paul Graham stated in his 2009 essay on the Maker’s Schedule, “A single meeting can obliterate an entire afternoon, by dividing it into two segments that are too short to accomplish anything complex.
- Divide a large project into smaller and clearly defined tasks, then perform similar tasks together in a batch.
- Utilize build tools and task runners such as Webpack, Gulp, and Grunt to streamline repetitive tasks so you can concentrate on the more intricate components of your project.
- Experiment with Docker or Local development environments to isolate WordPress projects, ensuring each project has its own unique environment and setup, thereby eliminating the need to switch between various server configurations.
- The “Do Not Disturb” option on Slack is your best ally when striving for uninterrupted work. Your team doesn’t require your presence this very moment. They can manage asynchronous communication.
- When you need to pause work, take thorough notes for yourself or try interstitial journaling so you can effortlessly return to your thought process upon your return. (Jerry Ng believes this is the best strategy he’s employed for his career.)
Blogs & Resources You Shouldn’t Overlook
Josepha Haden Chomphosy reminisces on the WordPress Briefing podcast, reflecting on her very first WordPress site and everything that’s evolved since then. (Warning for nostalgia: there’s a mention of GeoCities that may make some feel quite old.)
The conversation about translations continues with Matthias Pupillo’s appearance on the WPTavern Podcast. What’s your opinion? Would you trust AI for translating your site?
Listen to Marc Benzakein’s thrilling tale on the WP Builds podcast regarding a hacker who demanded $40k.
Starting next month, two-factor authentication will be required for all plugin and theme authors, so ensure everything is set up before then.
The “Pac-Man Rule” offers wonderful advice not just for WordCamp events, but for fostering new friendships in any social environment.
Coffee Break Distractions
The average person’s typing speed sits at 40 wpm. See how you measure up.
Six Degrees of Wikipedia takes you through the wikihole between any two subjects you choose.
This site monitors what occurs every second on the internet. It’s genuinely mind-blowing.
This sarcastic, pretentious AI critiques your music taste and mocks your guilty pleasure tracks.
And last but DEFINITELY not least, here’s an absolute UNIT of a baby penguin. Enjoy.
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