Weekly WordPress News: WordPress 5.1 Beta 2 Is Out

Howdy folks, let’s start with some housekeeping. If you participated in our Jupiter X theme giveaway last week, head here to see the winners (you should have also received notification if you won). Congrats to Umar, Omar, and Daniel!

Beyond that, WordPress 5.1 Beta 2 is out. The release is scheduled for February 21 and it brings the first phase of the Site Health Check project, as well as lots of other fixes and tweaks.

Elementor launched a new function: the new Popup Builder. According to Elementor it offers a new and better way to build and manage popups. I didn’t have time to check it out yet, but will do quickly!

There’s also news about the next phase of Gutenberg, as well as a good AppSumo deal on AccuRanker, if you’re looking for a tool to help you track your rankings.

Let’s get to all of this week’s news…

WORDPRESS NEWS AND ARTICLES

• Try the New WooCommerce Mobile App for Key Metrics, Order Look-Up, and Notifications – you can now manage your store on the go even more easily.
• Gutenberg Phase 2 to Update Core Widgets to Blocks, Classic Widget in Development – goodbye widgets! There will also be a Classic Widget if you don’t want to convert.
• WPML Alleges Former Employee Breached Website and Took Customer Emails – more on the WPML security breach.
• A Tale of Two Vulnerabilities: Using Commercial Plugins Responsibly – Wordfence investigates.
• WordPress 5.1 Beta 2 is now available! – WordPress 5.1 is closer to being ready.

TUTORIALS AND HOW-TOS

• How To Backup WordPress: Guide to Free & Premium Services and Plugins – learn how to back up your WordPress site.
• Conversion Rate Optimization Tips for 2019 – Expert Roundup – Elementor collected some expert tips.
• A Step By Step Guide To Converting A WordPress Shortcode To A Gutenberg Block – Josh @ Caldera Forms shows you how.
• How to Let Users Upload Comment Images in WordPress – let users attach images to WordPress comments.
• Debugging WordPress Core: Actions and Filters – a dev-focused guide from WebDevStudios.

RESOURCES & DEALS

• Best WordPress Contact Form Plugin? 7 Options Compared (Hands-On) – we updated our comparison of the best contact form plugins.
• 40+ Blank WordPress Starter Themes & Frameworks to Help You Kick-start Your Entrepreneurial Journey – check out some great frameworks.
• What Are Source Maps (And Are They Needed)? – Tom McFarlin explains.
• AccuRanker $39 Lifetime Deal – a really good SEO deal at AppSumo.