Important Update: Changes to Email Sending Policy for Your VIP Applications

As part of our ongoing commitment to maintaining robust and secure email-sending practices, we want to communicate an important policy update that will affect how your applications send emails.

New Requirement: Domain Mapping and Verification 

To ensure the integrity and deliverability of emails sent from applications hosted on WordPress VIP, it is now mandatory for all sending domains to be verified and mapped through the VIP Dashboard. A domain must be mapped to the environment from which the emails are sent. Mails sent from unmapped and unverified domains will soon be rejected. 

For detailed guidance on mapping and verifying your domains, please visit: https://docs.wpvip.com/domains/verification/

Requirement: Domain SPF, DKIM, and DMARC DNS Configuration

As explained in previous communications (listed below), the primary changes required for email deliverability are the configuration of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC DNS records for each mapped & verified domain being used to send emails on VIP.

Phasing out: Header Rewrites

Up to now, for emails sent from your VIP environments using unmapped domains, we  have been rewriting the “FROM” header to `donotreply@wpvip.com` as a temporary measure. This was intended to provide some leeway while transitioning to the new requirements. However, to align with best practices and improve service standards, this will be phased out according to the following schedule:

  • Starting March 5 2024: Email sent from non-production VIP servers with unmapped domains  will be rejected.
  • Starting April 1 2024: We will extend this policy for all production environments, rejecting all email from domains that are not correctly mapped to VIP.

Action Required

To avoid disruption to your outgoing email, please ensure that you complete domain mapping and verification , as well as any required DNS security changes before the above-stated deadlines. 

Support and Questions

We understand that this policy update may require you to make specific changes to your current setup. Our team is fully prepared to assist you with a smooth transition. If you have any questions or need support, please feel free to open a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

Call for Testing: WordPress 6.5 RC1

The WordPress 6.5 Release Candidate 1 is now available on WordPress VIP. Use the Software Management page to update your non-production sites to WordPress 6.5 RC1 for testing.

What’s Changing?

WordPress 6.5 Release Candidate 1

Testing this release candidate is the next step in preparing your site for the WordPress 6.5 release slated for March 26, 2024.

How to test WordPress 6.5

Local Environment

Ensure VIP-CLI is updated:
npm update -g @automattic/vip

Update environment:
vip dev-env update --slug SITENAME

Non-production

Alternatively, you may update a non-production site to WordPress 6.5 RC1 now.

Within the Software Management section of the VIP Dashboard, you can select your non-production environment and change the WordPress version to “6.5″ within the “testing” section.

Testing is vital to polishing the release during the Release Candidate and a great way to contribute. ✨

Not for Production Environments

WordPress VIP does not recommend using Release Candidate or Beta versions in production environments. Any sites that have managed updates will automatically be updated to WordPress 6.5 when it is released.

Questions?

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

Call for Testing: Jetpack 13.2-beta

Jetpack 13.2-beta is available now for testing and the download link is available here

Jetpack 13.2 will be deployed to VIP on Wednesday, March 20, 2024*. The upgrade is expected to be performed at 17:00 UTC (1:00PM ET).

*This deployment date and time are subject to change if issues are discovered during testing of the Jetpack release.
A full list of changes is available in the commit log.

What is being added or changed?

Enhancements

  • Blog Stats block: Add message on the frontend when the Stats module is disabled.
  • Dashboard: link to Odyssey Stats for Atomic sites
  • Goodreads Block: Add transform from Legacy Widget.

What do I need to do?

We recommend the below:

  1. Installing the release on your non-production sites using these instructions.
  2. Running through the testing flows outlined in the Jetpack Testing Guide.

As you’re testing, there are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Check your browser’s JavaScript console and see if there are any errors reported by Jetpack there.
  • Use Query Monitor to help make PHP notices and warnings more noticeable and report anything you see.

Questions?

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

Your Data and AI Firms

You may see news reports of our parent company, Automattic, striking deals to sell data from WordPress.com and Tumblr to OpenAI and Midjourney. The original report appeared in 404 Media and was picked up by The Verge. 

I want to assure WordPress VIP customers that your data has not been shared as part of any deal that Automattic may have negotiated and we will never share your data without explicit consent.

And while we’re on the topic of AI crawlers and your content – while it is not possible to prevent all AI crawlers, you can signal to reputable organizations that you do not want your content crawled. We have code examples for blocking AI crawlers in our documentation.

Please do reach out directly – I’m ng@automattic.com – if I can help in any way. Thank you for your continued partnership.

Advance Notice: Domain Verification Required for New Domains

At WordPress VIP, we have an ongoing commitment to be the world’s most secure WordPress platform. As part of that commitment, we are pleased to announce secure domain verification. From February 27, 2024, a verification step will be required for all domains added to our platform. Any domains previously added to our platform (legacy domains) are already considered verified, and will not require this step.

To verify a domain you must add a specific TXT record to the domain’s DNS record. The WordPress VIP platform will check for the correct TXT record and update the verification status. Our Domain Verification tool will guide you through the process, and can be found in the VIP Dashboard Domains & TLS panel. You can view the verification status of each domain in the “Verification” column.

Until a new domain has been verified, you will not be able to use it on our platform. Unverified domains cannot receive traffic, provision Let’s Encrypt certificates, be used in our launch tooling, or be used to send emails.

Call for Testing: WordPress 6.5 Beta

WordPress 6.5 Beta is now available. This is the first beta released as part of the 6.5 development cycle and can be deployed to non-production environments in your WordPress VIP dashboard. WordPress 6.5 Beta 1 contains approximately 681 enhancements and 488 bug fixes for the editor, including about 229 tickets for WordPress 6.5 Core. The current target for the final release is March 26, 2024.

What is being added or changed?

This year’s first major release will add finesse and fine-tuning to how you control your site-building experience, with lots to explore specifically for developers. You’ll find more ways to manage your fonts and styles, notable upgrades to synced patterns, a collection of Site Editor and performance updates to help you get things done, and new ways to leverage design tools in Classic themes.

WordPress 6.5 will include breakthrough foundational APIs that will start to transform how you use blocks to build memorable experiences. This release invites you to dig into these early-stage frameworks, discover how you’d like to see them evolve, and have an impact on their future improvements and capabilities.

Some of the changes include:

  • Font Library: A new tool for managing typography across your site, allowing the installation and management of local and Google Fonts without coding.
  • Synced Patterns Upgrade: Enhanced synced patterns let you make specific content changes within a design template, perfect for recurring elements like testimonials or case studies.
  • Block and Custom Fields Connection: The new Block Bindings API enables connecting core block attributes to custom fields or other dynamic content, simplifying the use of custom fields.
  • Interactivity API: Integrated into Core, this API offers a standardized method for adding interactive front-end experiences to blocks, enhancing user engagement.
  • Enhanced Revisions: More detailed style revision history in the Site Editor, including time stamps and summaries of changes.
  • Classic Themes and Appearance Tools: Classic themes can now opt into appearance tools, providing access to design options like spacing, borders, typography, and color.
  • Design and Editing Improvements: New design tools and Site Editor updates streamline workflows and enhance creativity, including background images for Group blocks, aspect ratio for Cover blocks, and shadow support.
  • Data Views in Site Editor: New data views for organizing and managing site components, leading into the Admin Redesign project.
  • Plugin Dependencies: Improved management for plugins requiring other plugins, with a new header for required plugin slugs.
  • Performance Gains: Over 110 performance updates, significantly speeding up the editing experience.
  • Accessibility Improvements: More than 65 updates to enhance accessibility, focusing on contrast, focus, and element positioning.

Please refer to WordPress.org announcement for more details.

How to test the upgrade on a local environment

The quickest way to test locally is to use the VIP Local Development Environment.

To update an existing environment:

vip dev-env update -w=6.5 --slug=mytestsite

To create a new one:

vip dev-env create -w=6.5 --slug=mytestsite

How to test the upgrade on a VIP Platform environment

You can update your non-production environments by run the `trunk` version of WordPress from within the Software Management section of the VIP Dashboard or by running the vip config software update command with VIP-CLI. For example:

vip @mytestsite.production config software update wordpress trunk

New Relic Management in the VIP Dashboard

We’re excited to announce an enhancement to our VIP Dashboard: Management capabilities of your applications APM from New Relic. This integration simplifies managing New Relic APM for both production and non-production environments, offering a seamless experience in monitoring and optimizing your application’s performance.

New Features at Your Fingertips

  • Easy Activation: Activate New Relic APM for your Production and Non-Production environments directly from the VIP Dashboard.
  • User Access Management: Effortlessly manage who has access to New Relic tools within your team.
  • Flexible Testing in Non-Production: Enable New Relic for continuous 7-day periods in non-production environments, perfect for thorough testing and analysis.
  • Uninterrupted Monitoring in Production: In Production environments, New Relic can be either permanently on or off, offering consistent monitoring without time constraints.

What to Expect

Upon activation, a New Relic entity is created for your application, and New Relic begins sampling HTTP requests. Please note, this may have a minimal impact on application performance, but the insights gained are invaluable for optimizing your user experience.

Ready to Enhance Your New Relic experience?

Get started by navigating to the New Relic section, located under “Performance” in your VIP Dashboard. For more detailed information, please check our documentation. If you’re activating New Relic for your Node.JS application please see our documentation for more advice on how to start reporting data from your application. 

Questions or Need Support?

If you have any questions or require assistance, our support team is always ready to help. Open a support ticket, and we’ll ensure your experience with New Relic APM is smooth and beneficial.

Announcing Enhanced Database Access with phpMyAdmin

Great news: We’re enhancing your database management capabilities by introducing read access to phpMyAdmin for all your environments. This user-friendly frontend tool will provide convenient read-only access to your database. 

Getting Started

To get access to phpMyAdmin you need to make sure to update your VIP-CLI to the latest version by running the following command:

npm install -g @automattic/vip

Once you’re at least on version 2.38.0 or higher you can simply run the following command:

vip db phpmyadmin @APPID.Environment

Check out our documentation for instructions on accessing and using phpMyAdmin through the VIP-CLI.

The introduction read-only access to your database through phpMyAdmin marks a pivotal moment in our continuous effort to provide advanced tools and features that cater to the evolving needs of our customers. It embodies our commitment to enhancing the development experience, offering a sophisticated yet user-friendly platform for efficient database management.

Need Help or Have Questions?

If you encounter any issues or have questions about using phpMyAdmin, our support team is here to assist. Please open a support ticket, and we’ll help ensure a smooth experience.

Call for Testing: Jetpack 13.1-beta

Jetpack 13.1-beta is available now for testing and the download link is available here

Jetpack 13.1 will be deployed to VIP on Wednesday, February 21, 2024*. The upgrade is expected to be performed at 17:00 UTC (1:00PM ET).

*This deployment date and time are subject to change if issues are discovered during testing of the Jetpack release.

A full list of changes is available in the commit log.

What is being added or changed?

Enhancements

  • Like block: the existing Jetpack Like & Reblog button features are now available as a block! With the new Like block, users are be able to add the Like & Reblog features not just to posts and pages, but also to block templates and block patterns. You can give the new Like block a try by adding it from within the editor just like any other block.
  • Sharing Buttons block: similar to the Like block mentioned above, the existing Jetpack Sharing Buttons feature is now available as a block.

Improved compatibility

  • GIF block: accept Giphy shortlinks as a valid embed.
  • Performance: improve script enqueuing strategies to rely on methods introduced in WordPress 6.3.
  • Sitemaps: use wp_loaded filter hook instead of init hook to load the permalinks for the sitemaps, which allows plugins and other hooks to load.

Bug fixes

  • Related Posts block: get related posts only when the option is turned on and the current post contains a Related Posts block.
  • Spotify shortcode: prevent a fatal error in PHP 8.1 if no attributes are passed.
  • Theme Tools: ensure that Content Options does not override the Featured Images options set within blocks.

What do I need to do?

We recommend the below:

  1. Installing the release on your non-production sites using these instructions.
  2. Running through the testing flows outlined in the Jetpack Testing Guide.

As you’re testing, there are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Check your browser’s JavaScript console and see if there are any errors reported by Jetpack there.
  • Use Query Monitor to help make PHP notices and warnings more noticeable and report anything you see.

Questions?

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