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Aiding Endoh in their journey is Automattic for Agencies. With a unified dashboard—including site overviews and real-time monitoring—as well as a host of other client management tools, Endoh gained freedom and efficiency, allowing them to spend time on their clients rather than their infrastructure.
Become an Automattic partner and gain access to discounted pricing, commissions on referrals, premier support, and cutting‑edge tooling.
]]>That footer space offers a small and potent opportunity to showcase your creativity and unique tastes. Whether you’re buttoned up or just plain silly or somewhere between, visitors will get a little hint as to the personality behind the brand.
Examples:
Okay, that last one was my six-year-old daughter’s idea. But you get the picture: you have total freedom to display anything you want in the footer credit—or nothing at all. Of course we’d be honored if you still include WordPress.com in your footer, but no harm, no foul if not.
This new customization is only available on sites using block themes. These are themes that use blocks for every part of the site, whereas “classic” themes are still utilizing CSS and other coded elements.
You can find out which type of theme your site is using by hovering over “Appearance” in the left-side menu of your dashboard. If you see “Editor,” you’re using a block theme. If you don’t, you’re using a classic theme.
We’re big advocates of using block themes, as these unlock the most powerful WordPress features available today. If you need help converting your theme, check out this handy guide.
In about 30 seconds flat, you can have a custom footer credit:
Keep in mind that you can edit and add nearly any block in the footer area—text, social links, images, buttons, etc.
Just like that, you have more options at your fingertips. That’s what we’re always striving for at WordPress.com. If you’re not on a block theme yet, we strongly encourage you to make that switch. Choose one today:
Let us know in the comments what you think of this new feature and always feel free to drop in ideas for other things you’d like to see.
]]>Here’s a quick tour of what this latest update offers folks on WordPress.com, starting with some of the basics about WordPress 6.6.
Table of Contents
WordPress 6.6 is available right now and has likely already landed on your WordPress.com site. You may notice that many of these new features have been available on your site(s) for a few weeks or even months; we often roll out updates in waves on WordPress.com to allow for early access, testing, and iteration before these major updates are more widely released.
Sites on WordPress.com are updated automatically. If you run into issues or bugs, always feel free to reach out to our expert Happiness Engineers at wordpress.com/help.
The last couple major WordPress releases have dramatically reimagined the Site Editor experience. With 6.6 you’ll see a new side-by-side default layout when viewing and editing pages.
Pattern management has also been better integrated, ensuring more efficient navigation and fewer clicks to get where you want to be.
Amidst these bigger changes are a number of small enhancements to keyboard navigation, bulk editing actions, and the overall design and functionality of the Site Editor.
If you’ve spent time in the Site Editor, you’ll have noticed that it used to offer a fairly different experience from the page/post editor. WordPress 6.6 now offers a shared workflow for publishing, leading to smoother interactions when navigating between various elements of your site.
As part of this unification, there’s also an update to the layout and design of the publish flow with more prominent displays for the title, publishing status, and featured image.
For all the plugin and theme developers out there, this particular update also makes it easier to extend the editor. Both the post/page editor and Site Editor now use the same slots and extensibility APIs.
For users, this means a lot more plugins will be able to bring exciting features into the editor. For plugin developers, it means that it’s easier to implement your code to extend the editor’s capabilities.
This new feature allows for editing specific blocks even when you’re utilizing synced patterns and styles. For example, if you have a pattern for a stylized button CTA, you can use this override feature to use different copy or even colors for different pages and button locations, while maintaining common elements.
You can “Enable Overrides” from the “Advanced” section of the Paragraph, Heading, Buttons, and Image blocks, with more block support planned for the future.
When it comes to plugin management, WordPress.com offers unparalleled reliability and redundancy. In addition to the scheduled plugin updates that we recently introduced, WordPress core now offers automatic rollbacks when a plugin update fails.
If you don’t utilize scheduled updates, your plugins will update automatically when new versions become available.
In the past, if a plugin update failed, WordPress would leave the plugin inactive, which might render some parts of your website unusable or broken. In WordPress 6.6, the plugin is rolled back to the previous version, ensuring continuity with your site until you can diagnose and fix the issue.
WordPress 6.6 offers a handful of new customization options for designing and stylizing your site. Let’s explore the most impactful new features.
Make an immediate visual splash with the new site-wide background image option in the Site Editor. Whether it’s a striking full-bleed photo or a whimsical graphic pattern, you have the freedom to choose size, position, and repetition.
You can now set negative margins for any block, allowing for more granular margin control. This enables users to more easily create overlapping design elements. Note that negative values must be entered manually rather than with the slider.
With the Grid and Grid Layout blocks, you can quickly create professional-looking grids for your images, testimonials, videos, and more. The “Auto” option automatically generates mobile-responsive rows and columns while the “Manual” option provides more granular control.
From the Styles menu, you can now edit shadow effects, including changing the default shadow style for images, buttons, and more. You can also add your own shadow styles, giving your total control over this subtle and powerful design element.
Here’s one for the theme builders out there. With WordPress 6.6, you have the option to define style variations for specific sections of a site, not just the theme as a whole. To enable this, you’ll have to edit your theme’s theme.json file and declare the style variation (click here for instructions). Once that’s set up, you will be able to quickly modify the styles of several blocks for areas like headers, footers, content sections, and more.
As a bonus, section styles also work flawlessly with content imported from our public pattern collection.
This release makes Block Bindings easier to use and more powerful. Originally available since WordPress 6.5, this feature allows users to connect (or “bind”) the content of a block to the data of a custom field. Here’s how to create that in a post. WordPress 6.6 takes it one step further by enabling the option to edit custom field data by just updating the block in the editor.
There are hundreds of updates to WordPress in the 6.6 release. What we’ve highlighted above is a just taste of the most notable and visible features. If you’re a developer and want to look under the hood a bit more, you can find the full slate of goodies in this WordPress 6.6 Field Guide.
Click below if you’re a developer and want to leverage the benefits of hosting your sites with WordPress.com:
*Photo and video credit: WordPress.org
]]>Today we’re bringing you a set of easy-to-use templates, along with some ideas on how to customize your community site. Let’s dive in!
WordPress.com offers a huge variety of themes, but if you’re looking for a place to start, you can’t go wrong with Twenty Twenty-Four. It’s a community project, comes with a professional, polished look, and offers plenty of built-in patterns that make site building a breeze. It also lends itself beautifully to customization.
Twenty Twenty-Four already has a lot going for it, but we decided to take it a step further and offer a couple of custom, community-focused page layouts to go along with it. Our stylish homepage and events page templates will seamlessly integrate with your site.
The homepage layout includes a welcome message, stats section, upcoming events, a blog, and a call for speakers. All of these are optional and can be removed or re-arranged as needed. Plus, you can supplement them with other patterns from the catalog, like social icons to promote your local group’s social media presence.
Let’s have a look!
First, you’ll want to activate the Twenty Twenty-Four theme on your site. Next, follow these steps to set up your homepage:
Repeat as necessary for the Events page, and any other page that you might want to add to your site, like About, Contact, or Blog.
The above page layouts can also be found in our pattern library in the Events category.
Once you’ve applied a template, it’s time to make it your own. Customizing your site to match your group’s vision is easy. Don’t forget to grab official WordPress logos and other visual assets.
Experiment with fonts and colors to make your design unique. Twenty Twenty-Four theme comes with six style variations that include different colors and fonts, and can be further adjusted as needed.
Use the power of Site Editor to change the header and footer of your site. Twenty Twenty-Four comes with a selection of built-in options for the site headers and footers, so take your pick!
Use the Social Icons block to display logos that link to your social media profiles anywhere on your site.
Once your local community website is ready, don’t forget to add the link to your group description and the “Find us” section on your official Meetup.com page.
We are committed to providing the best tools and resources for the WordPress community. What other patterns or templates would be useful for your meetup site? Share your thoughts and suggestions with us—we’re here to help you succeed!
]]>Eight years later, it was time for a refresh.
Our special projects team recently revisited my.blog, giving it a totally new aesthetic and approach, as well as some cool new features. In this post, we’re going to give you a peek behind the curtain about how this new site came to be. The fresh design beautifully showcases what’s possible with WordPress.
Take a look around my.blog and don’t forget to grab a .blog domain while you’re at it!
The first step for our team was to nail down a design motif. For any website project, starting here sets the tone for the entire site. What are the colors, styling, and typographical elements that speak to what you’re trying to get across?
Our design team presented two beautiful options, each with their pros and cons:
The fluid layout of the lighter version, codenamed Lemon Softness, really stood out, whereas the tile or card layout of the darker version, codenamed Starfield, looked nice, but felt like more of the same on today’s web.
On the other hand, the dark aesthetic of Starfield spoke a little more to our future-facing sensibilities.
Ultimately, we combined them. The layout of Lemon Softness is what you’ll see on my.blog today (including a few very cool scrolling animations), while the Starfield inspiration shows up in Dark Mode toggle (the moon/sun icon on the top right). Also check out the “glass morphism” effect in the header at the top of the site, which blurs the imagery just a bit so that you can clearly read and navigate the menu.
Of course, it’s not all about the design. Along with the bold new look, our team included a few features that will inspire bloggers of all stripes and encourage getting back into the habit. After all, blogging is actually thriving in our social media world.
First, we wanted to ensure that “dotbloggers” (folks who use a .blog domain) were highlighted right on the front page. This carousel pulls posts from the “dotblogger” blog category:
Just a bit further down on the page, we decided to feature .blog sites; this carousel is actually populated dynamically from a .blog domain database.
Finally, the team wanted to emphasize how powerful blogging can be. Just as “the death of the novel” has been overblown for at least 100 years, “the death of blogging” is a regular fixture of online discourse. The reality is that more people than ever before are blogging and seeing the value of having a corner of the internet that’s all theirs. To this end, we spent time crafting a manifesto that speaks to this:
We hold this truth at the center of our mission and vision: content is valuable. When you publish online—whatever you publish—you are declaring your willingness to create and add something to our world.
Owning your domain means that you’re not at the whims of an ever-changing algorithm. It’s a claim of ownership and independence. A .blog domain is more than that—it’s a signal and a badge of authenticity that declares your particular corner of the internet as a space for stories, expressions, thoughts, and ideas. You’re an original.
A .blog domain is more than just the dynamic pillar of your online presence (though it is that too). It’s a stage for all of the utterly unique ways you share your story—in words, photographs, videos, podcasts, artwork, and more.
Beyond the glitz and glamor, the .blog website also needs to provide practical resources for both registrars and dotbloggers. On the registrar side, our team made it especially convenient to access promotional content and visual marketing assets. When it comes to bloggers looking for a domain, the search page provides real-time results for what’s available and where you can purchase it.
As a reminder, you can also buy a .blog domain directly from WordPress.com/domains—for just $2.20 for the first year, or for free if you purchase any annual paid plan.
No need to take our word on the great job our special projects team did with the new my.blog website. Head over, click around, grab your own memorable domain name, and start (or restart) blogging today.
]]>(Quick reminder: WordPress plugins are available and installable on our Creator and Entrepreneur plans.)
Today, we’d like to highlight six surprising things you can do with WordPress.com from the moment you start building a website.
There’s no plugin needed to make a living or earn some cash on the side by selling digital products like ebooks, songs, or photographs on WordPress.com. With our built-in payment blocks Payment Buttons, Pay with PayPal, and Donations Form, you’re one click away from collecting money on your website. Best of all? Most of these blocks can be used on any plan, including Free, the exception being the PayPal block, which requires the Explorer plan or above.
Simply connect your Stripe account to get started selling today.
Just like the spam comments and messages you’re trying to block, the number of anti-spam plugins has proliferated in recent years. Luckily, you don’t need any of them, because Akismet, an Automattic product, is baked into every WordPress.com website and provided at no extra cost. With advanced filtering that blocks 99.99% of spam, you’ll never have to worry about unwanted visitors again.
On WordPress.com websites, SSL certificates are provided free of charge and automatically installed for you. This feature provides important security against hackers and other malicious actors, particularly if your website collects user information of any kind. At other hosts, you’ll often have to either pay extra or install your own (expensive) plugin in order to add an SSL certificate. Not at WordPress.com. Learn more about our SSL process here.
Since 2009 WordPress.com has had the built-in functionality of sending new posts as emails. That’s right, you don’t need a third-party service or platform (like Mailchimp or Substack) to send newsletter emails to your audience. Using a Subscribe block gives visitors a simple and convenient way to enter their email and get your posts right to their inbox.
You can also set up paywalls (with the Paywall block) and paid content tiers, allowing for multiple subscription levels. Additionally, you can view and manage subscriber details from the Subscribers page (found under “Jetpack” on the left-side menu). Learn more at WordPress.com/newsletters.
Videos can be a vitally important part of your website and content flow, but uploading them can be a pain in the neck—if you’re not using WordPress, that is. If you’re embedding a video from another source, like Vimeo or YouTube, use our built-in blocks of the same name. And here’s a helpful tip: you don’t even need to select the block first. Simply copy and paste the video link right into the editor, and WordPress will automagically do the rest.
For embedding your original video files (.mov, .mp4, .mwv, etc.), Automattic’s very own VideoPress block offers a straightforward and robust solution. With caption and chapter support, as well as detailed data and insights on views, once you try out VideoPress you won’t look back. This feature is available on Explorer plans and above.
Well-done imagery on a website can mean the difference between an engaged visitor and a bounced visitor. Rather than experimenting with overly complicated plugins, use the various image blocks that come with WordPress. Our Gallery, Slideshow, and Image Compare blocks are especially fun and offer a range of easy-to-use customizations that don’t overwhelm. Plus, these blocks are always optimized for mobile.
This is just a sampling of what you can do with WordPress.com. We didn’t even mention some of our favorite blocks, including: table of contents, music/podcast player, countdown timer, tables, and so much more.
Ready to explore these powerful built-ins? Get started today:
You may still find that using plugins solves your specific needs a bit better than what’s already built into the editor. If that’s the case, consider our world-class Creator or Entrepreneur plan.
]]>Craftfully is a magazine-style WordPress theme designed for all things homemade, DIY, crafts, and hobbies. Utilizing plenty of white pace, lighter colors, and playful fonts, this theme delightfully evokes a sense of playfulness and DIY creativity. Below a prominent featured section and newsletter sign-up box, a two-column layout displays the “Latest Posts” as well as a short bio and social links. Craftfully is more than just a theme, it’s a canvas for your imagination.
Click here to view a demo of this theme.
Though Portia is simple in its design and layout, it sends a powerful message: your firm is the best in the industry. With a focus on conveying professionalism, stability, and dependability, Portia is built with legal firms in mind, but is versatile enough to work for any business that relies on trustworthiness and respectability. You won’t find any rock-the-boat design elements here. It’s all about communicating the right information at the right time.
Click here to view a demo of this theme.
Kiosko is a sleek and modern WooCommerce theme tailored for online stores specializing in art prints and home goods. With its high contrast black and white design, Kiosko offers a minimalist aesthetic that puts the spotlight on your products. It’s straightforward and effective, meaning you can focus on your art and your sales rather than your infrastructure.
Click here to view a demo of this theme.
Dark Academia is a blog theme with a dark, moody aesthetic. Its sophisticated layout will especially stand out to visitors. The sticky left half features your site’s name and the primary navigation menu, while the right half scrolls through your latest posts. This style is perfect for blogs focused on literature, history, and fashion, and it’s naturally deal for those who appreciate the Dark Academia vibe. The elegant and immersive reading experience will make your site memorable for anyone who happens by it.
Click here to view a demo of this theme.
OnyxPulse is a sleek WordPress theme with a modern, minimalist design, perfect for blogs about design, future trends, and innovation. Its grid layout and high-contrast visuals are ideal for showcasing cutting-edge content and engaging a tech-savvy audience. The striking black-and-white color palette and sharp design elements are sure to catch your visitors’ eye. For the typography, we’ve opted for Chakra Petch, a square sans-serif font; its sharply tapered corners are a perfect match for this theme.
Click here to view a demo of this theme.
To install any of the above themes, click the name of the theme you like, which brings you right to the installation page. Then click the “Activate this design” button. You can also click “Open live demo,” which brings up a clickable, scrollable version of the theme for you to preview.
Premium themes are available to use at no extra charge for customers on the Explorer plan or above. Partner themes are third-party products that can be purchased for $99/year each on the Creator plan and above.
You can explore all of our themes by navigating to the “Themes” page, which is found under “Appearance” in the left-side menu of your WordPress.com dashboard. Or you can click below:
]]>From June 13-15, 2024, over 2,500 folks from the WordPress community, including many of us from the WordPress.com team, came together to learn, connect, and give back to the WordPress project that powers over 43% of the entire internet.
I joined the WordPress.com team back in January of this year, so WordCamp Europe 2024 was my first WordCamp experience. In today’s post, I thought it might be interesting to hear about the conference from a first-timer, especially if you’re considering attending a WordCamp or WordPress meetup in the future.
Here are my top five takeaways from my very first WordCamp:
If your typical workday looks similar to mine––sitting at a desk at your house all day by yourself––going to a conference as large as WordCamp Europe may be a wee bit out of your comfort zone. It certainly was out of mine.
That said, I’ve recently found myself craving in-person connection after the pandemic and working almost exclusively from home for over eight years. Not only did attending this conference just get me out of my normal routine, it allowed me to connect with folks who love the tool I’ve used personally and professionally for over a decade: WordPress.
I staffed the WordPress.com booth, so I had a ton of opportunities to chat with other business owners, developers, creators, and makers over the course of the conference. I actually talked with a few fellow self-taught women developers like me, and I walked away feeling inspired, motivated, and just really thankful to be a part of this community.
But the best conversations happened in places I wouldn’t have expected: over spritzes, grabbing a cafe at the venue, or just walking around the city.
Embracing connection was a big focus of Matt’s final keynote speech during the event, and I couldn’t agree more. Events like WordCamps allow for swapping ideas, collaborating and troubleshooting, and experiencing a sense of community that you just don’t get while sitting behind a computer.
That said, if large-scale conferences like a flagship WordCamp just aren’t for you, try checking out a local WordPress meetup to connect with other like-minded folks in your community.
One of the most moving parts of WordCamp Europe was at the very end when all of the volunteers and organizers were called to the stage; it’s truly amazing just how many people need to be involved to make an event like WordCamp actually happen.
Everything was smooth and well-organized, and the volunteers and organizers could not have been more helpful. Their enthusiasm about the event, WordPress, and community in general throughout the conference was infectious.
WordCamps and local WordPress meetups are always looking for volunteers; donating your time and expertise for events and meetups like this are a great way to give back to the WordPress project and community.
And if you’re an organizer of your local WordPress meetup, check out this post for information on how you can get a free WordPress.com website for your local meetup.
I’ve never contributed to WordPress core, but it was one of my goals for this year. That’s why I was so excited to participate in Contributor Day at WordCamp Europe.
If you’re unfamiliar with Contributor Day, it’s an event that usually kicks off a WordCamp. Teams focus on contributing to the WordPress open source project, with groups focused on code, support, translations, sustainability, inclusion, and more.
After listening to all of the team presentations, I decided to join the Accessibility team. Accessibility is something that has always interested me, but it’s also something I don’t have a ton of experience with.
That said, my inexperience wasn’t just accepted, it was actively welcomed.
Once I got to the Accessibility team table, I was immediately greeted and welcomed. Then I paired with a fellow contributor, Marco Acato from Acato Digital Agency, to test the accessibility of a new theme for the WordPress theme repository.
I learned so much, asked a ton of questions, and felt surprisingly accomplished after just a few hours of testing this theme. We were actually able to publish feedback for the theme developer at the end of the day as well.
Contributor Day gave me an even deeper appreciation for the entire community that supports the WordPress project every single day. So much work and effort goes into maintaining and improving this tool that millions of websites across the world rely on to run their businesses, amplify their messages, and stay in touch with others. I felt so grateful to have been a part of it during Contributor Day and would encourage any other first-timers to attend a Contributor Day in the future as well.
Luckily, WordPress core is always looking for volunteers and contributors; check out this guide or the new Contributor Mentorship Program if you’re interested in becoming a contributor yourself.
Between attending Contributor Day and sessions, to checking out sponsor booths and attending side events, I didn’t think we’d have a ton of time to actually see the city or Torino.
I actually had plenty of time to explore with my coworkers, eat pizza every single day, and scope out the best gelato spots outside of conference hours.
The WordCamp Europe team did a great job preparing attendees to make the most of our time in the city as well; their travel guides helped me feel confident navigating the city and finding some of the foods that come from this area in Italy.
As a first-timer in Torino, I really appreciated the extra work that the WordCamp team did to ensure everyone had a chance to explore and experience the city.
I would be remiss to not mention the food that we ate during our time in our host city! While we like to say that “Code is poetry” around here, so is pizza.
One of my very favorite memories from the event was the branding. The design team for WordCamp Europe 2024 added subtle nods to our host country throughout the venue, which was incredibly clever and well-done.
And while pizza is indeed poetry, it’s even better when shared amongst coworkers, friends, and people who get excited about the same things that excite you.
I loved my time at WordCamp Europe, and I’m already looking forward to the next time I can connect face-to-face with the WordPress community.
Were you at WordCamp Europe this year? Leave a comment with your favorite memory from the event below.
]]>Whether you’ve known about it or not, we’ve long been scanning and monitoring your site’s files to catch and remove threats. Let’s dig in just a bit more.
Using Automattic’s homegrown Jetpack software, every WordPress.com site is scanned on a daily basis for dangerous plugins, themes, malware, and other vulnerabilities. Once weaknesses are spotted, our security team swiftly resolves the issues, updating or reverting files as needed depending on the problem.
Perhaps the best part is that we offer this peace of mind for free, on every plan. This certainly isn’t the case everywhere. Many WordPress hosts charge for the type of protection that WordPress.com offers on all of our website plans.
Plus, you don’t have to do a thing to activate or maintain these security features. Our scanning tools are up and running as soon as your site is created. You can rest easy knowing that you have the web’s best security guards working on your behalf.
It’s possible you’ve never before thought of the importance of website security. The reality of the modern web, however, is that bad actors are out there looking to take advantage of you and your site’s visitors.
If your site is hacked, it’s liable to cause serious damage to your reputation and your livelihood (not to mention your emotional well-being). Hackers can manipulate your website’s data, steal information from you or your users (including passwords), install and execute malicious code, and even distribute the malicious code to your visitors, infecting their sites and machines. It’s not an insignificant problem or threat, that’s for sure.
Jetpack’s web application firewall (WAF) monitors every request to your site and blocks requests from anything malicious. Our team of security experts continually updates the web application firewall’s rules to ensure you are protected against the most up‑to‑date threats. You don’t have time for downtime.
On our higher-tier plans you also have access to the scan history, which shows a record of all previous threats on your site. Additionally, you’ll have access to real-time backups, real-time security scans, malware removal, spam protection, and vulnerability notifications for core code and plugins.
At WordPress.com, we want you dreaming big rather than spending your energy worrying about your website’s security. This is why we provide automatically-installed best-in-class monitoring with no extra charge, on every single plan.
And our security features will grow right alongside you; whether your dream is to blog about your adorable cats, highlight your stunning landscape photography, or build a home base for your budding technology startup, we have your back. Learn more about all our security features or get started building right now:
]]>To encourage even more in-person connection, we’re happy to let you know that you can now host your WordPress meetup for free on WordPress.com and access all of the benefits of our popular Creator plan. You’ll get a free domain name, unlimited bandwidth, and the web’s best spam and security protection so you can focus on the real magic of WordPress: the community.
At WordCamp Europe 2024 yesterday, Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of the WordPress project, gave a keynote where he talked about 11 important opinions to keep in mind while working on WordPress. Unsurprisingly, most of these opinions revolve around the craving for human connection. So when Matteo Spirandelli, co-organizer of WordPress Meetup Milano, asked in the Q&A whether their meetup could have a complimentary WordPress.com site, my answer was an emphatic “Yes!”
Connecting with your local WordPress community is a great way to foster those connections, and WordPress.com wants to help by offering free websites on our Creator plan for local WordPress meetups.
If you are an organizer of an existing WordPress meetup, fill out this form to redeem your complimentary website:
Ready to join your local WordPress community? Find a WordPress meetup in your area to connect with other writers, business owners, developers, and folks from all walks of life. Here are a few of the upcoming events around the globe:
The WordPress project also has a great guide to starting your own WordPress meetup.
It was truly a pleasure to connect with so many of you at WordCamp Europe 2024. We’ll see you at WordCamp US in Portland, Oregon in September!