Weekly WordPress News: What Are Google Core Web Vitals?

Hey, WordPress fans,

Are you familiar with Google’s Core Web Vitals initiative? If you’re not, you’ll be hearing this term a lot more in 2021. Learn about it in our introduction post.

Beyond that, Unsplash just released its own official WordPress plugin. Now, it’s easier than ever to insert Unsplash images in your WordPress content.

Let’s get to all of this week’s WordPress news…

WORDPRESS NEWS AND ARTICLES

• Google Core Web Vitals for WordPress: What You Need to Know – learn about Google Core Web Vitals and how they apply to WordPress.
• Official Unsplash WordPress plugin – this is the WordPress.org page for the new official plugin from Unsplash.
• Introducing Jetpack CRM: Grow Your Business Through Better Contact Management – as expected, Automattic rebranded its Zero BS CRM acquisition as Jetpack CRM.
• 2 Million Users Affected by Vulnerability in All in One SEO Pack – the vulnerability has already been patched – make sure to update!
• Should WordPress Themes Add a Top-Level Admin Menu Item? – what do you think?
• Prepare for mobile-first indexing (with a little extra time) – Google delayed its mobile-first indexing from September 2020 to March 2021.
• Stop Blaming Plugin Developers for Too Many WordPress Admin Notices – what do you think?
• Pixelgrade: Transparency Report #11 – Pixelgrade published another detailed transparency report.

TUTORIALS AND HOW-TOS

• WordPress Custom Taxonomy 101: What They Are + How to Use Them – how to start using custom taxonomies.
• How to Improve WordPress Search With the Free Relevanssi Plugin – how to make WordPress search better – for free!
• How to Install WordPress on Microsoft Azure: Step by Step Guide – how to install WordPress on Microsoft Azure cloud hosting.
• How to Set up a Contact Form with Opt-In in the WordPress Block Editor Using Gutenberg Forms – Gutenberg Forms is an interesting new free plugin.
• Set up WooCommerce “Back in Stock” Notifications in Under 5 Minutes – two easy ways to handle out of stock products in WooCommerce.
• SSH Beginner’s Guide for WordPress Users and Everyone Else – learn about SSH.
• How to Add a WordPress Signup Form to Your Website – how to create engaging front-end signup forms.
• Complete Guide to Gravity Forms Salesforce Integration – a way to manage leads and contacts better.

RESOURCES

• 20 Best WordPress Mega Menu Plugins for Better Menus – the best WordPress mega menu plugins.
• The 4 Best Local WordPress Development Environments in 2020 – Delicious Brains compares popular local dev tools.
• How to build a WordPress plugin, with John James Jacoby – a new episode of the Post Status podcast.
• BuildBubbles AppSumo Deal – this tool lets you turn your WordPress blog posts into podcasts.