IT Troubleshooters

WordPress 7.0.2 went out today with two important security updates. One is a type of pre-authorization RCE we (fortunately!) have only seen a few times in WordPress’ 23-year history; the last, I believe, in the PHPMailer class five years ago. Major kudos to Adam Kues of Searchlight Cyber for finding the batch REST API RCE, to TF1T, dtro, and haongo on the facilitated SQL injection! Thanks to…

Hi there! What a week! WordPress 7.1 Beta 1 (and Beta 2) arrived with a huge array of updates. We’ll unpack them together over the next four weeks, right up to the final release on August 19, 2026. One thing shouldn’t wait, though: the security release WordPress 7.0.2. Go update your production sites now — this newsletter will still be here when you’re back. In this edition, you’ll also find the…

For years, the post editor has lived a double life. The Site Editor renders your blocks inside an iframe. The post editor — where most people actually spend their time — renders them directly in the admin page. That split ends with WordPress 7.1: the post editor canvas will always be an iframe, on every theme, no matter what apiVersion your blocks declare. The Gutenberg plugin has been enforcing…

If you run a WordPress site, then you know that spam is a real annoying problem whether it comes to contact forms, WordPress comments, or user registrations. The good news is that stopping spam in WordPress is a lot easier than you probably think, and you don’t need expensive tools either. We have spent over 16 years testing anti-spam plugins, tools, and refining strategies to keep WPBeginner and…

A look at the impact of AI and bots on the web, emphasizing the decline of human engagement, the challenges for content creators, and the future of digital interaction.

WordPress 7.0.2 is now available. The 7.0.2 security release addresses one critical and one high severity security issue. Because this is a security release, it is recommended that you update your sites immediately. Due to the severity, the WordPress.org team have enabled forced updates via the auto-update system for sites running affected versions. To manually update you can visit your WordPress…

Open Channels FM is launching a new video news show called Open Channels News, starting July 27th. It’s a quick, five to ten-minute program covering various open source topics, available live and on YouTube.

Transcript [00:00:19] Nathan Wrigley: Welcome to the Jukebox Podcast from WP Tavern. My name is Nathan Wrigley. Jukebox is a podcast which is dedicated to all things WordPress. The people, the events, the plugins, the blocks, the themes, and in this case, the risks of legacy PHP in WordPress and why upgrading matters for security. If you’d like to subscribe to the podcast, you can do that by…

In this episode, Bob and Cami discuss how AI is reshaping web design, offering tips on using AI tools effectively, educating clients, and adapting workflows for better efficiency in the digital space.

WordPress 7.1 Beta 1 is ready for download and testing! This beta release is intended for testing and development only. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Instead, use a test environment or local site to explore the new features. How to Test WordPress 7.1 Beta 1 You can test WordPress 7.1 Beta 1 in any of the following…

GiveWP is the most popular fundraising and donation tool on WordPress, powering over $500 million in donations. It integrates with Akismet to ensure that spammy or potentially fraudulent submissions get filtered out. Recently, some Give users saw an unusually high level of false positives on their donation forms: legitimate donation submissions that were being marked as spam. We investigated and…

In this episode, Adam and Aaron discuss evolving web security in the AI era, emphasizing proactive strategies, layered defenses, and the vital role of hosts in protecting websites against modern threats. Secure your online presence!

August 16-19, 2026 | Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, Arizona WordCamp US 2026 returns for another year, this time in Phoenix, Arizona, for four days, August 16 to 19. It comes at a moment of real energy for WordPress, as artificial intelligence reshapes everyday workflows, the business of building and maintaining sites is shifting, and new people keep discovering the platform every day. Four…

In this Open Web Conversations episode, host Anne Bovelett chats with lawyer Carlo Piana about open source software’s legal challenges, AI’s impact on coding, and the importance of proper licensing and attribution.

In episode 132 of the Gutenberg Changelog podcast, host Birgit Pauli-Haack and guest Ellen Bauer explore the latest updates within the WordPress ecosystem. The conversation centers on the releases of Gutenberg 23.4 and 23.5, the recent WordPress 7.0.1 maintenance update, and the strategic roadmap for the upcoming WordPress 7.1.A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to major merge…

Hi there, After a four-week break — courtesy of a sciatic nerve with strong opinions — I’m happy to be back in by office chair and in your inbox. There is plenty to catch up on. Beyond the updates on the new WordPress and Gutenberg versions, you’ll find stories below from WordPress veterans on migrating to and working with block themes on client sites and dive into more complex theme solutions…

AI assistants like Claude Code, Cowork, and ChatGPT are incredible productivity boosters, and if you wished that you could connect these AI tools with WordPress directly, then you’re not alone. Lately, I have been using WordPress MCP by WPVibe to let my AI assistant manage my website, and it’s truly amazing how much time this saves. You can simply ask it to create a post, upload image, handle…