Weekly WordPress News: Should WordPress Auto-Update Old Sites?

While no official decision has been made yet, it seems likely that WordPress will auto-update older sites to WordPress 4.7.

Additionally, flush off its acquisition of Tumblr, Automattic also made another acquisition this week. They acquired the Zero BS CRM plugin and are considering rebranding it to Jetpack CRM.

If you are looking into Dropshipping, now might be the best time to act on it: Alidropship has got a New Season Sale:

• 35% OFF AliDropship Plugin and Andy theme. Code NEWSEASON35
• 25% OFF Custom Dropshipping Store. Code NEWSEASON25 
• 35% OFF all Add-ons with the code NEWSEASON35

Also, we give you a tour of the brand new SiteGround hosting dashboard – it no longer uses cPanel, and it’s really cool.

Let’s get to all of this week’s news…

WORDPRESS NEWS AND ARTICLES

• WordPress Poised to Begin Implementing Proposal to Auto-Update Older Sites to 4.7 – what do you think?
• SiteGround Gets a New Hosting Dashboard – No More cPanel – check out the new SiteGround dashboard.
• We’ve joined Automattic – the Zero BS CRM acquisition post.
• A Nofollow Option for Links Is Coming to Gutenberg – better 9 months late than never, right?
• 5 Data-Backed Reasons Why Freelancers Should Build a Strong Personal Brand – check this out if you’re a freelancer.

TUTORIALS AND HOW-TOS

• How to Stop Image Hotlinking in WordPress (4 Easy Methods) – don’t let people steal your server’s resources.
• What Is WebP And How To Enable It On Your WordPress Website? – how to enable WebP on WordPress.
• Cracking WordPress Passwords with Hashcat – you shouldn’t do this, but it’s interesting to look at.
• How I Saved 3 Seconds on My Client’s Download Speed by Using a Simple HTTPS Redirect Trick – this is short but interesting.
• WordPress Multisite: The Everything-You-Need-To-Know Guide to WordPress Network – Kinsta’s detailed guide to Multisite.

RESOURCES & DEALS

• 8 Best WordPress Security Plugins to Lock Down Your Site – these plugins offer a comprehensive approach to WordPress security.
• Amelia Booking Plugin $49 AppSumo Deal – this is a great deal – we reviewed the Amelia booking plugin here.
• Gordon Stannis & Twisthink – a new episode of the How I Built It podcast.
• AliDropship’s New Season Sale – get 35% OFF this dropshipping plugin