Author Archives: Samuel Sidler

Samuel Sidler 3:25 pm on February 1, 2016
Tags: , 4.4.2, ,   

4.4.2 Release Candidate

A Release Candidaterelease candidate One of the final stages in the version release cycle, this version signals the potential to be a final release to the public. Also see alpha (beta). for WordPress 4.4.2 is now available. This maintenance release is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, February 2, but first it needs your testing. This release fixes 17 issues reported against 4.4 and 4.4.1.

WordPress 4.4 has thus far been downloaded over 20 million times since it’s release on December 8. Please test this release candidate to ensure 4.4.2 fixes the reported issues and doesn’t introduce any new ones.

Contributors

Thank you to the following 11 contributors to 4.4.2:

afercia, berengerzyla, boonebgorges, chandrapatel, chriscct7, dd32, firebird75, ivankristianto, jmdodd, ocean90, salvoaranzulla

Fixes

A total of 17 fixes are included in this RCrelease candidate One of the final stages in the version release cycle, this version signals the potential to be a final release to the public. Also see alpha (beta). (trac log). Notable fixes include:

  • #35344 – Strange pagination issue on front page after 4.4.1 update.This was a very visible issue for certain users with specific settings. While remnants of this issue still exist (see #35689), the bulk of it has been fixed and is ready for testing.
  • Comments – A total of 6 issues were fixed within the Comments component.
    • #35419 – Incorrect comment pagination when comment threading is turned off
    • #35402 – per_page parameter no longer works in wp_list_comments
    • #35378 – Incorrect comment ordering when comment threading is turned off
    • #35192 – Comments_clauses filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. (issue)
    • #35478 – 4.4 Regressionregression A software bug that breaks or degrades something that previously worked. Regressions are often treated as critical bugs or blockers. Recent regressions may be given higher priorities. A "3.6 regression" would be a bug in 3.6 that worked as intended in 3.5. on Querying for Comments by Multiple Post Fields
    • #35356 – wp_list_comments ignores $comments parameter

Download & Test

We need your help to ensure there are no issues with the fixes in 4.4.2. Please download the RC and test!

#4-4, #4-4-2, #maintenance, #release

Samuel Sidler 2:19 am on August 8, 2015
Tags: , ,   

WordPress 4.3 Field Notes

WordPress 4.3 includes improvements to existing features and brand new features for developers. Over the past few weeks, the coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. team has been posting here on make/core with a number of the developer changes in WordPress 4.3.

WordPress 4.3 ships in just a week and a half. Prepare your themes, plugins, and apps for the changes above and comment on those posts with any questions, comments, or feedback.

#4-3, #dev-notes, #field-guide

Samuel Sidler 8:50 pm on July 30, 2015
Tags: , 4.2.4   

WordPress 4.2.4 Release Candidate 1

tl;dr WordPress 4.2.4 RC1 is available (download) for testing and fixes an issue with inline scripts.

A change in WordPress 4.2.3 had the unintentional side effect of breaking some inline scripts when the CDATA blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. is used (see #33106). For example, consider the intended content here:

<script>// <![CDATA[
_my_function('data');
// ]]>
</script>

In 4.2.2, this content is left as is and _my_function() fires as expected. In 4.2.3, the content is manipulated as such:

<script>// <![CDATA[ _my_function('data'); // ]]></script>

This results in the script being commented out by the // and it will not fire. A workaround for this is to use /* for commenting.

<script> /* <![CDATA[ */ _my_function('data'); /* ]]> */ </script>

However, this workaround should not be necessary. As a result, we intend on releasing WordPress 4.2.4 to fix this issue.

Additionally, WordPress 4.2.3 caused issues when using shortcodes within angle brackets (see #33116). For example, this shortcodeShortcode A shortcode is a placeholder used within a WordPress post, page, or widget to insert a form or function generated by a plugin in a specific location on your site. usage worked in 4.2.2 but did not work in 4.2.3:

<[shortcode]>

While we do not recommend this use of shortcodes and strongly encourage pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party developers to move away from this use of shortcodes, the breakage was unintentional and we have restored the behavior in WordPress 4.2.4 RC1.

Please download and test WordPress 4.2.4 RC1 and report any issues to core trac or to this post.

#4-2, #4-2-4

Samuel Sidler 2:47 pm on July 10, 2015
Tags: , ,   

Feature Plugin Chat on July 14

Hey everyone!

As I mentioned at this week’s dev chat, we’re going to have a feature pluginFeature Plugin A plugin that was created with the intention of eventually being proposed for inclusion in WordPress Core. See Features as Plugins. chat this coming Tuesday July 14 19:00 UTC.

If you have an idea that you’d like to propose as a feature plugin or if you have a feature plugin already in development, come to the chat and comment below with the following details:

  • A brief (one paragraph) overview of your feature plugin proposal.
  • Current status (e.g. idea, planning, early/late development, existing pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party, testing, stable, etc). If you’re just in the idea stages, list any existing plugins that are similar to your idea.
  • A list of those involved or already interested in your feature plugin (including you!).
  • A link to the plugin in the WordPress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ plugin directory and/or GitHubGitHub GitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/ repository, if applicable
  • What you’d like help with (scoping, planning, wireframing, development, design, etc).

Please leave just one comment per feature plugin/idea so others can comment on the ones they’re interested in.

Current feature plugin leads: We want your feature plugins here too! Please post an update with the information above.

#chats, #core-plugins, #feature-plugins

Samuel Sidler 2:32 pm on April 25, 2015
Tags:   

WordPress 4.1.3 Released

Shortly after we shipped WordPress 4.2, we shipped WordPress 4.1.3 to fix an issue caused in WordPress 4.1.2.

Specifically, WordPress 4.1.3 fixed database writes for esoteric character sets, which were broken in the WordPress 4.1.2 security release. However, neither UTF-8 nor latin1 were affected. More information on this issue can be found in #32051.

Additionally, we shipped WordPress 4.0.3, 3.9.5, 3.8.7, and 3.7.7 to fix the same issue on other branches.

#4-1

Samuel Sidler 8:13 pm on September 16, 2014
Tags: ,   

Feature Plugin Chat on September 23

Last week we mentioned holding a feature pluginFeature Plugin A plugin that was created with the intention of eventually being proposed for inclusion in WordPress Core. See Features as Plugins. chat today, but that didn’t happen. Let’s have it next week on September 23 2014 20:00 UTC.

We’ve done this before, but just to recap…

If you have an idea for a new feature, this will be a great opportunity to bring it up and find others interested in helping out.

Please leave one comment per feature idea with the following information:

  • A brief (one paragraph) overview of your feature plugin proposal.
  • Current pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party status (idea stage, planning stage, under development, existing feature plugin, prior work, etc).
  • A list of those involved or already interested in your feature plugin (including you!)
  • What you’d like help with (scoping, planning, wireframing, development, design, etc).

This post and the accompanying chat are for posting ideas that you’d be interested in working on. It is not for posting every feature idea you have for WordPress.

Current feature plugin leads: Please post an update for your plugin here, along with the information above.

See you all at the chat!

#core-plugins, #feature-plugins

Samuel Sidler 4:37 pm on April 28, 2014
Tags: , ,   

Feature Plugin Chat tomorrow

As mentioned at the dev chat last week, we’re having a feature pluginFeature Plugin A plugin that was created with the intention of eventually being proposed for inclusion in WordPress Core. See Features as Plugins. chat tomorrow, April 29, 2014 20:00 UTC in #wordpress-dev. That’s the same time, same place as the dev chat on a different day. (The dev chat will take place on Wednesday, like normal.)

Just like we did before, post your feature ideas here in one comment with the following information:

  • A brief (one paragraph) overview of your feature plugin proposal.
  • Current pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party status (idea stage, planning stage, under development, existing feature plugin, prior work, etc).
  • A list of those involved or already interested in your feature plugin (including you!)
  • What you’d like help with (scoping, planning, wireframing, development, design, etc).

Again, this post and the accompanying chat is for posting ideas that you’d be interested in working on. It is not for posting every feature idea you have for WordPress.

Current feature plugin leads: Please post an update for your plugin here, along with the information above.

We’ll go through current feature plugins at a brisk pace, then talk about the new ones that are forming.

See you tomorrow!

#chats, #core-plugins, #feature-plugins

Samuel Sidler 10:22 pm on March 19, 2014
Tags: ,   

GSoC Chat Tomorrow

For those interested in Google Summer of Code, we’ll be holding a chat tomorrow on IRCIRC Internet Relay Chat, a network where users can have conversations online. IRC channels are used widely by open source projects, and by WordPress. The primary WordPress channels are #wordpress and #wordpress-dev, on irc.freenode.net. in #wordpress-gsoc, March 20, at 18:00 UTC (2pm EDT, 11am PDT). Bring your proposal along and you’ll have five minutes to talk through your proposal with mentors. We’ll try to fit everyone.

If you haven’t already, be sure to submit your proposal as soon as possible. There’s not much time left to get feedback prior to the submission deadline! Keep in mind that you can modify your proposal up until the deadline.

See you all tomorrow!

#gsoc, #gsoc2014

Samuel Sidler 4:40 pm on February 27, 2014
Tags:   

Feature Plugin Chat on March 4

As mentioned at this week’s and last week’s meeting, we’re going to be holding a feature pluginFeature Plugin A plugin that was created with the intention of eventually being proposed for inclusion in WordPress Core. See Features as Plugins. chat on March 4 2014 21:00 UTC. If you have an idea for a new feature, this will be a great opportunity to bring it up and find others interested in helping out. In fact, just like we’ve done before, post your feature ideas here.

Please leave one comment per feature idea with the following information:

  • A brief (one paragraph) overview of your feature plugin proposal.
  • Current pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party status (idea stage, planning stage, under development, existing feature plugin, prior work, etc).
  • A list of those involved or already interested in your feature plugin (including you!)
  • What you’d like help with (scoping, planning, wireframing, development, design, etc).

This post and the accompanying chat is for posting ideas that you’d be interested in working on. It is not for posting every feature idea you have for WordPress.

Current feature plugin leads: Please post an update for your plugin here, along with the information above.

See you all at the chat!

#core-plugins

Samuel Sidler 11:27 pm on October 22, 2013
Tags: , , ,   

Preparing your feature for the 3.8 merge

Now that 3.7 RCrelease candidate One of the final stages in the version release cycle, this version signals the potential to be a final release to the public. Also see alpha (beta). has shipped – and the final release is coming soon – it’s time to talk a bit more about how merging to coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. will work for feature plugins. First, let’s talk about decisions.

Decisions

I’ve been asked a few times “who decides” what goes in core and variants of that question. There’s actually three decisions that need to get made. In order:

  1. Does the feature belong in core?
  2. Is the feature ready for core?
  3. Should the feature be in this release?

Core contributorsCore Contributors Core contributors are those who have worked on a release of WordPress, by creating the functions or finding and patching bugs. These contributions are done through Trac. https://core.trac.wordpress.org. and members of the community are strongly encouraged to help inform and guide each of these decisions. You may even want to offer some of your feedback in the form of answers to these questions. Each question is ultimately answered by a different group.

  1. Project leaders determine if a feature belongs in core.
  2. Contributing developers determine if a feature is ready for core.
  3. The release leadRelease Lead The community member ultimately responsible for the Release. – for 3.8, @matt – determines if a feature belongs in a particular release.

We’re now at the point where these questions need to get answered. To do that, it’s time to present your feature plugins.

Present Your Feature

If you remember back when we first started the feature pluginFeature Plugin A plugin that was created with the intention of eventually being proposed for inclusion in WordPress Core. See Features as Plugins. process, each team had to present its feature idea and answer a few questions. We’re going to do that again, but with a bit more information. If your project thinks it’s ready for core – and specifically for 3.8 – your team lead should make a post to make/core with the following information:

  • A visual and written overview of your feature plugin, along with a link to your pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party.
  • What problem is your feature plugin trying to solve?
  • What brought you to this solution and what other potential solutions did you explore?
  • Have you done user testing of your feature plugin? If so, what were the results? What worked and what didn’t?

In your post, be sure to include links to previous posts and even specific comments that have helped form your decisions.

Be ready for feedback from across the WordPress community – especially UXUX User experience and code quality  – and be ready to defend your decisions or change your mind if a better idea emerges. Everyone will be reviewing the make/core posts and feedback in their discussion threads to determine if the answers to the questions above are all “yes”. If so, the feature can land when the merge window opens.

#3-8, #core-plugins, #feature-plugins, #merge