Weekly WordPress News: WordPress 5.7 Beta 1 Is Out

Hey, WordPress friends.

This week, we got our first look at WordPress 5.7 in its first beta – give it a test if you want to see what’s new.

Beyond that, Justin Tadlock has some interesting thoughts on free WordPress themes, WordPress powers 2/5 of the US higher education market, and Wordfence details what was hacking WordPress sites in 2020.

Let’s get to all of this week’s news…

WORDPRESS NEWS AND ARTICLES

• WordPress 5.7 Beta 1 – the first beta for WordPress 5.7 is officially out.
• Upsells, Barriers, and the End/Beginning of the Quality $free Themes Era – interesting thoughts on “free” themes from Justin.
• New Report Estimates WordPress’ Market Share of US Higher Education Institution Websites at 40.8% – this is about on par with WordPress’s market share as a whole.
• Accessible Websites Benefit Everyone – thoughts on website accessibility.
• Block Manager Redesign Coming Soon – improvements to the native Block Manager are on the way.
• New Ranking Factors Info, Keyword Position History, and Active Install Increase Alerts – neat features for plugin developers.
• The Wordfence 2020 WordPress Threat Report – Wordfence’s annual threat report.

TUTORIALS AND HOW-TOS

• Improve WordPress Excerpts for Better Performance, Traffic, and Engagement – how to create better excerpts.
• WordPress Changes Not Showing? Here’s How to Fix the Problem – what to do if your WordPress site isn’t showing changes.
• Translate English Website Into Any Language (2021 Ultimate Guide) – how to translate an English WordPress site into other languages.
• WP-CLI: A Beginner’s Guide – tips for using WP-CLI.

RESOURCES

• Nelio Unlocker Review: No More WordPress Page Builder Lock-In! – this tool lets you convert from different page builders without losing your design.
• Elementor Review: Is It Really As Good As They Say? (Feb 2021) – we updated our huge Elementor review.
• PeachPay Review: Turbocharge Your Checkout Process for Increased Sales – improve your checkout process with PeachPay.
• Founder marketing – a new episode of Matt Report (and a new website design).
• 12 WooCommerce Stats and 3 Key Trends for 2021 (+ Infographic) – as the title says.
• Launching your website? Things to remember – how to give your website the best chances.