WordPress 6.4, “Shirley,” was released today, marking the third major WordPress release of 2023 and a significant leap forward for the world’s most popular content management system.  Named for iconic jazz singer and pianist Shirley Horn, WordPress 6.4 has an impressive suite of enhancements and new features that further streamline the editor experience while offering greater creative flexibility.  In the following sections, we’ll unpack some of the most transformative additions found in the 6.4 release, from new editor enhancements to the “Twenty Twenty-Four” theme and everything in between. Let’s get started! Note: In addition to testing 6.4 using a staging or […]

Have you ever had a hard time finding an article or item while searching on someone else’s WordPress site? Maybe the results weren’t what you were looking for, or maybe the results were being displayed in some bizarre order. Search on WordPress is a notoriously difficult problem, especially for older sites with years of content. In this episode of Press This, we talk with Jared Hutchinson and Luke Patterson, from WP Engine, about the new Smart Search plugin for WordPress. We’ll talk about how their plugin solves these problems and what they’ve learned about search in the process.

Is WordPress really safe? That’s probably a question on the minds of many new users, especially when they hear that it’s an open source project. So, are there any statistics about WordPress security that can provide an answer? As a matter of fact, there are, and in this post, we have tried to compile as many meaningful numbers on this topic as possible. Below, we’ll examine industry reports and statistics regarding the security of WordPress core, themes and plugins, login information, and hosting environments. In the end, we want you to not only have a good idea about the safety […]

On this episode of Press This, WP Engine Product Marketing Manager, Sr. Josh Dailey joins the show as we dive into WooSesh 2023 and its “State of the Woo” presentation. This year’s State of the Woo offered great insights into the current stats, new features, and big trends in WooCommerce. Over 4.4 million stores are powered by WooCommerce, so the growth has been tremendous, but now Woo is encouraging those users to start getting more active in the Woo community. Check out this episode to learn more about the push to get more Woo users involved in testing the product and providing feedback.

Sorry to break it to you, but your website is not safe. That’s not necessarily because of something you did but simply because nothing on the Internet is ever completely secure. Every single website faces security threats that can take them down, damage them, or worse. That’s the bad news. The silver lining is, there are many things you can do to tackle these threats and the first step is to be aware they exist. After all, you can only protect yourself from something that you know could pose a risk. To help you do exactly that, this article will […]

Despite being the most popular content management system in the world, myths about the security of the WordPress platform continue to circulate. Due to its open-source nature, inexperienced users might view it as less secure than a commercial product. Plus, they may be unnerved by reports of WordPress security problems in the news. Myth #1: Security is the Job of Your Hosting Provider As a beginner or first-time website owner, you might think that keeping your website secure is the domain of the people you pay to keep it online. And that is true in a way; your web hosting […]

On this episode of Press This, WP Engine Product Marketing Manager, Sr. Josh Dailey joins the show as we dive into WooSesh 2023 and its “State of the Woo” presentation. This year’s State of the Woo offered great insights into the current stats, new features, and big trends in WooCommerce. Over 4.4 million stores are powered by WooCommerce, so the growth has been tremendous, but now Woo is encouraging those users to start getting more active in the Woo community. Check out this episode to learn more about the push to get more Woo users involved in testing the product and providing feedback.

It seems like half the articles I write these days are about artificial intelligence. This one is no exception as I am about to try out and review Jetpack AI Assistant, a new generative AI tool recently unveiled by WordPress.com. It promises to bring ChatGPT-like features to WordPress and help you write blog posts, headlines, and calls to action. It can also improve your writing, change its tone, and even provide translations — all more quickly than doing it manually. Jetpack AI Assistant is available to all WordPress.com users but, as the name suggests, you can also use it on […]