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Experimental Blocks and More AI Tools
Jun
WordPress community is at all times in motion to create a greater experience for its content management system users. This month, we’re treated with updates, patches, and have development for various WordPress plugins.
As well as, sticking with the AI trend, we saw more AI adoption within the WordPress ecosystem. Most notably, Elementor, one among the large players, announced its plans to introduce more AI-powered features into the positioning builder. But more on that later – let’s take a look at what April has brought us.
WordPress Updates
Despite being a comparatively quiet month for the WordPress core, there are still some interesting and essential updates to discuss. Some experimental features got rolled out in Gutenberg, and Yoast updated its minimum requirements.
Experimental Features in Gutenberg
April saw the discharge of Gutenberg versions 15.5 and 15.6, which brought three recent interesting experimental features to users. To try them out, it’s essential to install and activate the Gutenberg plugin and activate the experiments from the Gutenberg → Experiments panel.
Grid Block
The grid block was introduced in Gutenberg 15.5. Acting as the brand new container block, the grid layout enables users to rearrange content, akin to displaying product features, in a way that wasn’t previously possible with the “group, row, and stack” block.
Currently, the grid block has a single setting to alter the minimum column width, which can affect the variety of columns. This block can also be included within the container block transformation option, making it easier to rework the several blocks into one another. This fashion, if you desire to change a stack block to a grid block, you just click a button and get on along with your day.
Details Block
The small print block, introduced in Gutenberg 15.6, lets users add a collapsible section to their pages to cover content.
For instance, it is advisable to hide a transcript or product details that will take up an excessive amount of space if displayed by default. This block also turns out to be useful when users need to create an accordion menu.
The small print block consists of a heading for the main points summary and a baby block. You may insert any core block you wish into this block, including a question loop and a picture. This provides great flexibility for adding any content contained in the accordion.
Command Center
The last experimental feature we would like to spotlight is the command center. Also introduced as an experiment in Gutenberg 15.6, this feature acts as a shortcut for users to go to other posts, pages, templates, and template parts.
Users simply should press Cmd/Ctrl + K within the Site Editor, and the command center pop-up will appear, showing the available items to leap to. Alternatively, use the search bar to search out the item you desire to pick.
Yoast search engine optimisation Increases PHP Requirement
Yoast launched two updates in April – version 20.5 and 20.6. However it’s the primary update it is best to really concentrate to.
Version 20.5 will increase the PHP requirement to a minimum of PHP 7.2.5 or higher. Because of this the plugin will now not be compatible with previously supported versions – PHP 5.6, 7.0, and seven.1.
Pro Tip
Update your PHP version to enhance the performance of your website. You may accomplish that easily with our hPanel: we’ve got a dedicated PHP management panel that helps you to change the PHP version in only a number of clicks.
Yoast already posted a notice in November 2022 about increasing the minimum PHP requirement for the plugin. While it was initially planned for March 2023, Yoast finally implemented it in version 20.5, launched in mid-April 2023.
Elementor AI
Crafting an internet site with AI remains to be a hot topic online, and Elementor just jumped on the bandwagon. They simply announced that AI technology is being introduced to their products.
Elementor’s first notable AI tool is the text generator. This tool lets users generate text for headings and content blocks with easy prompts. Due to the several handy quick prompts, you’ll be able to refine the outcomes by making the suggested text shorter or longer, simplifying the language, and fixing grammar issues. There are alternatives to alter the tone and translate the text.
The second intriguing feature is code-writing AI. Created to assist write CSS and custom HTML code, this tool is helpful for anyone who desires to create specific visual customization but doesn’t know find out how to code.
Currently, Elementor AI is accessible within the beta version of three.13, with the ultimate release estimation shall be on May 8, 2023.
Upcoming Updates
Although we just got the most recent major WordPress release last month, the WordPress team is already working on future updates.
The WordPress 6.2 release squad is working on the 6.2.1 minor updates to repair several bugs. While there remains to be no schedule for the update, the team is anticipated to deliver it in May.
As for the most important update, the proposed plan is to ship WordPress 6.3 around August. The WordPress team remains to be calling for a release squad. In case you’re interested, you’ll be able to take a look at the Core Team blog post for more information.
WordPress Security News
This month, we had a somewhat unusual security breach: an abandoned plugin was exploited to create a backdoor on compromised web sites. Not something you want to occur to your site, right? We have now also rounded up some plugins that launched patches to cover cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities.
Eval PHP
A security threat was found related to an abandoned Eval PHP plugin. Considered an abandonware, given the last update was over 10 years ago, the plugin was used so as to add PHP code to WordPress posts and pages. This created a possibility for attackers to make use of it to create a backdoor to sites that had the plugin installed.
The attackers first need to put in Eval PHP on compromised web sites. Then they may insert the PHP code into posts and pages to create the backdoor.
The vulnerability was identified when an unusual spike of installs happened in the previous few months despite the plugin’s dormant activity. This resulted within the WordPress Plugins team removing Eval PHP from the repository to stop more installation and subsequent security threats.
It is suggested to ascertain your website to make sure Eval PHP will not be installed in your site. We recommend also securing your WordPress credentials to stop compromising your site in the long run.
Pro Tip
At all times use secure credentials to stop unauthorized access to your WordPress admin. We recommend using hPanel’s malware scanner to search out any security threat in your site.
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Vulnerabilities
Throughout April, some plugins were affected by cross-site scripting vulnerabilities. We’ve scanned through Patchstack data and listed some notable plugins detected with such vulnerabilities:
- All In One WP Security (1+ million lively downloads). The cross-site scripting vulnerability affected version 5.1.4 or lower, with version 5.1.0 or lower also affected by cross-site request forgery (CSRF). Version 5.1.5 fixed all the problems, although we recommend updating to the most recent version, 5.1.8, if you happen to haven’t done so.
- MetaSlider (700,000+ lively downloads). MetaSlider version 3.29 and lower are affected by a high-severity reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability. Version 3.30 fixes this issue, but only 22.8% of lively downloads currently use the most recent version. In case you’re using this plugin, check your version and update it immediately if needed.
- Limit Login Attempts (600,000+ lively downloads). Two cross-site scripting vulnerabilities were detected in April, affecting version 1.7.1 and lower. The developer has patched them in version 1.7.2.
WordPress is driven by creative contributors who develop themes, plugins, and other tools to enhance the web site creation experience. Listed here are some recent additions to the WordPress family that we found interesting and price mentioning.
Lovebird Theme
One in every of the fascinating recent WordPress block themes is Lovebird – a multipurpose block theme with a daring design and a feature-rich premium version. The demo version boasts a clean pink-themed style with a loud image background, giving off retro vibes.
The magazine-inspired design makes Lovebird suitable for fashion or online magazine web sites. Its daring and catchy style easily captures readers’ attention, and the strong typography selection makes the text come out for max readability. The theme can also be WooCommerce-ready, so starting a fashion store or charging for a magazine subscription is feasible from the get-go.
Flusso AI
AI technology is here to remain, and the Flusso AI plugin is one among the most recent examples of how it may well be leveraged for content creation.
Flusso AI brings 4 AI functionalities to your site:
- Image generator. Use prompts to create AI-generated images. There are alternatives to set the variety of images generated, resolution, image type, and elegance.
- Chat and text content generator. This feature relies on the well-known ChatGPT. You need to use prompts to generate text content on your post or page copy. There’s even an choice to robotically create a brand new post based on the generated text.
- Key points. Available within the post editor, the AI will generate the post summary or list the article’s key points. Great for social media posts or summarizing what your articles are all about.
- Speech to text. Need a transcript on your podcast or video? You may upload an audio file to the plugin panel and generate the transcription. Just like the text generator, you’ll be able to quickly create a brand new post based on the generated transcription.
The plugin uses OpenAI, meaning that it’s essential to connect the plugin to your OpenAI account using the key key.
WordPress Plugins Periodic Table
Curious to see what are the most well-liked WordPress plugins? Pascal Birchler created a periodic table of 108 WordPress plugins from the official repository with probably the most lively downloads.
The table is interactive, too. Click on any element, and it is going to expand to point out more information concerning the plugin, what it’s used for, and so forth.
Although this periodic table was built to have a good time the twentieth anniversary of WordPress, it still provides useful information to users, especially if you happen to’re on the lookout for the most well-liked and reputable WordPress plugins on your website.
WordPress Is Turning 20 in May
On May 27, 2023, we have a good time an important milestone in WordPress – the software’s twentieth anniversary!
It’s rare for a community-supported software to grow and evolve for thus long, and it’s surely something WordPress fans are keen to have a good time. Take a look at the official WordPress twentieth Anniversary website for community events near you.
Hostinger will participate too! Stay tuned: we’ve got special content planned for celebrating 20 years of WordPress.
