Call for Testing: WordPress 5.4 (Beta)

WordPress 5.4 is scheduled for public release on Tuesday, on March 31, 2020.

What Is Being Added or Changed?

Block Editor: features and improvements

Adding a Social Links block.

WordPress 5.4 Core will merge ten releases of the Gutenberg plugin, including the most recent, Gutenberg 7.5. This means there’s a long list of exciting new features. These features include new functionality, as well as accessibility and performance improvements. Some of the new features include:

• Two new blocks: social links and buttons.
• A Welcome Guide modal.
• Tools for adding featured images in the Latest Posts block.
• Easier navigation in the block breadcrumbs.
• Several new APIs related to block scaffolding
• Friendlier offline error messages on REST API request failures.
• Table block captions.
• Improved color options.

Site Health

WordPress 5.4 adds a widget on the dashboard that warns administrators of potential issues that could affect their site’s performance or security. A call-to-action button directs them to the Site Health screen for details and suggested fixes.

WordPress accessibility improvements

Improvements include changes to focus management in Menu, Customizer, and Site Health screens, easier keyboard navigation for better semantics in the Media modal, and an easier-to-read Privacy Policy Guide.

Developer-facing Changes

• Instead of using do_shortcode(), apply_shortcodes() should be utilized instead. While do_shortcode() is not being deprecated, the new function delivers better semantics.
• Clearer information about errors in wp_login_failed.
• Site ID has been added to the newblog_notify_siteadmin filter for multisite installs.

When Will WordPress 5.4 Be Deployed?

VIP Go: WordPress 5.4 will be rolled out to all WordPress.com VIP and VIP Go sites on Tuesday, March 31, 2020.

WordPress.com VIP: As with all Core upgrades, we’ll be pushing incremental updates leading up to the public release.

Please note that the deployment dates are subject to change if critical issues are discovered during testing or the public release is delayed. We’ll post updates to the Lobby if the dates do change.

What Should I Do?

We highly recommend updating your local development environments to the beta release using the Beta Tester plugin or updating it to track 5.4 (i.e. trunk) via either the Subversion or GitHub repos.

For sites on VIP Go, you can have your non-production sites switched to WordPress 5.4 now. If this is something you’re interested in, please open a ticket and we can set it up for you.

And, as always, if you have any questions related to this release, please open a support ticket and we will be happy to assist.

Deprecating the Proofread Feature

This notice relates to the following platforms: WordPress.com VIP and VIP Go

The Proofread feature that was available on the WordPress.com VIP and the VIP Go platform, has now been deprecated.

On VIP Go: This week, the feature was removed from Jetpack.

On WordPress.com VIP: This feature will be removed from the WordPress.com platform on Wednesday, June 5, 2019.

We previously offered a feature that let users proofread and spellcheck content, inside the WordPress editor. This was part of the WordPress.com platform and available to VIP Go users through Jetpack. It was also previously available as part of the After the Deadline plugin.

Modern browsers now provide built-in spell-checking tools, so we’re removing this feature from our product to avoid maintaining unnecessary dependencies.

If you are looking for an alternative, we recommend using one of the following options:

• the spell-checking built into most browsers
• a browser extension that offers additional grammar checks
• a third-party service that offers additional grammar checks

You can read more about some of these options here. 

If you have any questions please open a ticket where we’ll be happy to answer any questions.

Gutenberg Release Candidate Available

This notice relates to the following platforms: WordPress.com VIP, VIP Go

A new version of the Gutenberg Plugin has been released today. Version 4.0.0 is at the release candidate stage.

We encourage all VIPs using the Gutenberg Plugin to upgrade to this version. For VIP Go, you can take advantage of the new version by adding the latest version (v.4.0.0) to your plugins folder. The plugin can be downloaded here.

If you have any questions please open a ticket where we’ll be happy to assist you transition to the newest version.

What improvements are included?

The main changes for Gutenberg’s 40th release includes the introduction of post locking around blocks, ability to search categories, and overall UI improvements around fonts and colors. The biggest underlying change is around a new data structure to allow inline content that can be portable. A full list of changes is available here.

Additional work has also been done in advance of an upcoming API freeze. We’ll keep you updated once dates have been confirmed.

What does that mean for your VIP site(s)?

Gutenberg will be merged into the upcoming WordPress 5.0 release, which is proposed for November. We recommend that clients plan to keep updating the plugin as we approach the 5.0 merge.

After the 5.0 merge, your editorial experience will stay the same. Gutenberg’s functionality will be opt-in for VIP clients. If you decide you want to enable Gutenberg, you’ll be able to take advantage of our Ramp plugin, which allows you to selectively enable Gutenberg via post type or post ID.

For those that still haven’t tried out the new editing experience, you can try it out here to learn more about the block-based editing experience of the (near) future. For everybody, keep an eye out for future Lobby posts with more WordPress 5.0 details as well as VIP News for exciting things some of our clients are doing with the new editor.

Twenty Nineteen: A new Gutenberg-ready theme on the way!

WordPress 5.0 will be accompanied by a brand new default theme: Twenty Nineteen. Development on the theme began yesterday.

This will be a great example of a Gutenberg-first designed theme, featuring both front and back-end styles. If you are looking for a Gutenberg-ready theme to explore, you may want to follow the development process here.

Resolved: VIP Go Availability Issues

This notice relates to the following platform: VIP Go

Update: There were some issues in one edge location that resulted in slower than normal responses and some errors during a 5 minute period. We made some configuration adjustments to prevent it from happening again.

We experienced a limited outage on the VIP Go platform today (September 7th) between 14:47 UTC and 14:55 UTC. Some site visitors would have experienced slow load times or errors during this time due to timeouts. Services are operating normally at this point.

Sorry for the trouble! We’re investigating the root cause and will follow up with further information, as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, please email vip-support@wordpress.com.

Notice: Livefyre plugin deprecated

This notice relates to the following platforms: WordPress.com, VIP Go

The Livefyre service was acquired by Adobe in March 2016. Since then, they’ve modified their product lineup.

The Livefyre WordPress plugin hasn’t been updated or maintained since version 1.3 was released in 2016, and support has ended for the plugin. Adobe no longer makes reference to the plugin in their documentation and is, instead, encouraging clients to use their Enterprise Livefyre service with an alternative implementation process.

Additionally, on November 30, Adobe plans to block calls made via HTTP, which the plugin uses.

We plan to proactively patch the shared plugin on the WordPress.com VIP platform, and have provided patches via pull request for sites on VIP Go, so that calls are made via HTTPS. This should allow the plugin to continue to function in the short term.

Long-term, this plugin has been deprecated and we recommend finding an alternative. The Livefyre plugin can be used in a number of ways – If you are looking for a recommendation, please open a support ticket, and let us know how you are currently using the plugin.

If you have any questions, please let us know, and we’ll be happy to help.

Improvements to automated build and deploy on VIP Go

This notice relates to the following platforms: VIP Go

We recently introduced a new feature for our VIP Go platform – automated build and deploy. Now we’re adding improvements to help make deployments even easier.

Automated PHP_CodeSniffer (PHPCS) scanning continues to be rolled out. Even more clients have enabled it for their GitHub repositories. This functionality enables us to more rapidly review code while maintaining our high quality and security standards.

We’ve also rolled out auto-approvals for specific file-types  — the file types are:

gif, jpg, jpeg, png, bmp, css, map, pdf

This means that if a Pull-Request is created that only alters files of these types, it will be automatically approved with no human intervention required.

These two new features are being enabled gradually for clients.

We’re continuously improving these new features. If you see any issues or anything that does not look correct, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will look into it.

WordPress 4.9.6 and new GDPR-related tools

This notice relates to the following platforms: WordPress.com VIP, VIP Go

On Thursday, May 17, WordPress 4.9.6 is expected to be publicly released and will include new tools which support Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This post is to help you prepare for the coming changes.

There are differences in how this update is being implemented on our different platforms.

• On the WordPress.com VIP platform these tools will be disabled.
• On the VIP Go platform these tools will be available, but clients can choose to disable them.

When will the changes be deployed?

On the WordPress.com VIP platform, this update will take place following the public release, which is expected on Thursday, May 17. On the VIP Go platform, this update will take place on Monday, May 21.

What is the GDPR?

The GDPR is a new andfar-reaching privacy regulation from the European Union (EU) that takes effect this month, May 2018.

The GDPR, among other things, requires companies and site owners to be transparent about how they collect, use and share personal data. It also gives individuals more access and more choice when it comes to how their own personal data is collected, used, and shared.

What’s changing?

There are five new GDPR tools in this release: a privacy policy page, a privacy policy editing helper, a personal data export tool, a personal data erasure tool, and a comment form checkbox.

1. Privacy Policy Page
   This is now a setting under wp-admin > Settings. It lets you designate or create a privacy policy page.
2. Privacy Policy Editing Helper
   This tool gathers privacy policy declarations from plugins that support them into a copy and pasteable view above the page editor when editing the privacy policy page. It also highlights when a plugin’s declarations change.
3. Personal Data Export tool
   This tool is designed around GDPR Right of Access requests. You can find it under wp-admin > Tools. It allows administrators to send a confirmation link to users to confirm their personal data export request, and lets administrators download or directly email a personal data export as a ZIP file. It includes hooks for plugins to add contributions to the report.
4. Personal Data Erasure tool
   This tool is designed around GDPR Right to Erasure requests. You can find it under wp-admin > Tools. It allows administrators to send a confirmation link to users to confirm their personal data erasure request. It does the following:
   1. Allows administrators to run a personal data erasure for those users
   2. Informs administrators of any personal data that was retained by a plugin
   3. Allows administrators to optionally delete registered user accounts
   4. Includes hooks for plugins to erase personal data they collected
   5. Works with new anonymization functions in WordPress core to anonymize things like IP addresses instead of just erasing them
5. Comment Form Cookie Checkbox
   This is a checkbox that appears to logged-out users, getting their permission to store their username, email and website in a browser cookie before doing so.

Personal Data Export and Erasure Tools, as seen in WordPress development version (4.9.6-RC1-43241).

Privacy Policy Page and Editing Helper, as seen in WordPress development version (4.9.6-RC1-43241).

Comment Form Cookie Checkbox, as seen in WordPress development version (4.9.6-RC1-43241).

What about WordPress Multisites?

By default, the tools are disabled in Multisite for single-site administrators, but are still available for Super Admins.

How do I disable the privacy tools?

You can follow the instructions in our documentation.

Where can I get more information?

You can learn more about the release schedule and current feature set for WordPress 4.9.6 on the WordPress.org site.

What do I need to do?

We highly recommend updating your local development environments to the beta release using the Beta Tester plugin or updating it to track trunk (i.e. bleeding edge) via either the Subversion or GitHub repos. (If you’re using VVV, one of the default sites will already be tracking trunk. For Chassis users, you can switch your install to switch over to a separate checkout.)

For sites on VIP Go, you can have your Go-hosted development sites switched to trunk as well. If this is something that interests you, please reach out and we can set it up for you.

What if I find Issues?

If you have testing feedback or questions related to this release, please open a support ticket with details and we will be happy to help.

Reminder: Access to Storify ends May 16, 2018

This notice relates to the following platforms: WordPress.com VIP, VIP Go

We’d like to remind you that the Storify plugin and service are about to be retired.

As we mentioned previously, as of May 1, clients will no longer be able to create new stories.

If you would like to keep your Storify.com content, you will need to take action before May 16, 2018 at 5pm PST. After that point, you will no longer have the ability to:

• Export content using the export functionality on Storify.com
• Access any site functionality
• Contact customer support

You can read more about how to prepare on the Storify website.

Please contact support@storify.com with any questions you might have.

WordPress VIP and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

This notice relates to the following platforms: WordPress.com VIP, VIP Go

Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (aka GDPR) is a new and far-reaching privacy regulation that takes effect in May 2018.

This document provides information about the law and our plans for implementing the GDPR’s important principles for WordPress VIP’s products and services, including WordPress.com.

We are currently working to add features to enhance user choice and bring more transparency to our practices around the collection, storage, and use of your data.

For example, for your convenience, we now have a VIP data processing addendum available. If your company is exploring how to confirm vendor GDPR compliance, this document can help as it addresses the particular nuances of hosting services. To take advantage of this addition, please submit a ticket to our support team.

We expect that WordPress VIP products and services will be in compliance with GDPR requirements and will meet the dates as determined by the European Union. Our parent company Automattic is currently preparing all of its services offerings, including Jetpack, for GDPR compliance as well. (Please note that the GDPR readiness of third-party plugins is the responsibility of their respective owners.) 

We’ll also provide additional tools and information so that users of our services can take the steps needed to comply with the law, if necessary.

What is it?

The GDPR, among other things, requires companies and site owners to be transparent about how they collect, use and share personal data. It also gives individuals more access and more choice when it comes to how their own personal data is collected, used, and shared.

It’s important to understand that while the GDPR is an EU law, its requirements apply to all sites and online businesses who collect, store, and process personal data about residents of the EU.

You can read the full text of the law here. We also found these resources helpful in understanding the principles and specific requirements of the law:

• The European Commission’s GDPR Infographic
• GDPR Insights Page (Osborne & Clarke LLP)

WordPress VIP and the GDPR

User privacy is critically important to us at WordPress VIP. Our privacy principles align with many of the GDPR principles, and we built our products and services with those principles in mind.

For example:

• Data minimalism. When you sign up for WordPress.com, we ask only for limited information needed to set up your WordPress.com account. We require an email address and a username, nothing more. If you purchase a paid plan, we’ll need additional information to process your payment. You are welcome to add other information to your public profile and account settings, but we don’t require you to give us any other personal information to get your account up and running.
• Control of Your Content. We aim to give you as much control as possible over who can see your content. The Privacy Settings give you choices to make your site public, private, or hidden from search engines. And Page Visibility gives you options about who can see specific pages on your site.
• Strict Guidelines on Providing User Information to Governments. We understand that safeguarding our users’ private information is a vital aspect of the trust our users place in our services to keep them safe, and in some cases, anonymous. Our Legal Guidelines describe when we will disclose user information in response to requests from law enforcement or from complainants in civil litigation.  (And we have a reputation for challenging overbroad requestsーfor example, we successfully argued to lift non-disclosure orders on National Security Letters from the U.S. government that prohibited us from revealing information about those requests to our users).
• Your Security is Our Priority. While no online service can ever be 100% secure, we work very hard to protect your information from unauthorized access. We support and promote encryption of user data and we encrypt all traffic (serve over SSL) for all WordPress.com VIP sites, by default. You can read more about our WordPress.com security features and Jetpack Security Features. We also *require* you to use our advanced security settings, like Two Step Authentication for your WordPress.com account, to help protect your account and your data.
• WordPress Sites are Portable. Your site is yours and your content belongs to you. We want you to have a long and happy stay on WordPress.com VIP, but if you find a new home for your WordPress site, you can always export your site to a new host, quickly, easily, and without any extra charges from us.

And there’s much more to come! We’ll continue to update you with more information as we launch new features to enhance user privacy and data choice ahead of May 2018, and beyond.

Brief Geo Uniques Plugin Outage

This notice relates to the following platforms: WordPress.com VIP

At 18:00 UTC (14:02 EST) we deployed a minor update to the WP.com Geo Uniques plugin. This caused unexpected redirects on sites using the plugin.

We have since rolled back the changes and are reviewing to determine the next steps to ensure we don’t cause these outages to clients in the future.

Please get in touch if you’re experiencing problems.