A lot has been going on since our last blog post. Besides many improvements and fruitful discussions in the XML Sitemaps feature project, the proposed schedule for WordPress 5.5 has been published.

The first betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. is currently slated for July 7, which still gives us a bit of time to finish work on our project. We’re getting close to a state where we feel comfortable publishing a merge proposal for inclusion in WordPress coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. as part of the 5.5 release.

This post aims to give an overview of the things currently in progress, and the items that should be discussed in the upcoming meeting on SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/..

Updates

• Custom elements in sitemap (#151)
  The pull request proposing a simple APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. still needs some documentation, but overall ready for review.
• PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher Warning on PHP < 7.3 (#186)
  A pull request has been opened to fix this edge case. Ready for review.
• Filters for individual sitemap entries (#191)
  Freshly proposed over the weekend, this PR makes it easier to modify sitemap data while having access to the necessary post/term/user objects for context. Ready for review.
• 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. to modify WP_Query arguments (#183)
  Feedback from initial code review still needs to be incorporated.
• Removing core_ prefixes from code (#182)
  Still some feedback that needs to be incorporated. Tests are currently not passing. Otherwise very close.
• Custom elements in stylesheet (#152)
  PR #163 is still work in progress. The feeling last time was that it might be too complex for core, and perhaps better off as a 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.
  If the pre-existing stylesheet is deemed to not satisfy the needs, we could also omit the stylesheet completely if wanted.
• Merge proposal post
  We started with an early draft for this, and will share the draft post with the broader group once we feel more comfortable with it.
• Core patchpatch A special text file that describes changes to code, by identifying the files and lines which are added, removed, and altered. It may also be referred to as a diff. A patch can be applied to a codebase for testing.
  Not yet in progress, as there are some bigger outstanding PRs needed for this. We’ll likely start with a first proof-of-concept PR that can then serve as the basis for discussion.

Agenda: May 26th

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 26th at 16.00 CEST.

Items on the agenda so far:

• Going through items from updates above
• Open floor

Want to add anything to the above? Please leave a comment here or reach out on Slack.

This meeting is held in the #core-sitemaps channel. To join the meeting, you’ll need an account on the Making WordPress Slack.

#agenda, #feature-plugins, #feature-projects, #sitemaps, #xml-sitemaps

It’s been a while since the last blog post about the XML Sitemaps feature project. Today I’d like to summarize the developments since last month, and also post the agenda for our upcoming meeting.

Updates

• Version 3.0 (#181)
  A pull request has been opened to add the change log for our next release, which includes a good amount of improvements over the last version. The goal is for this to be one of the last releases before we put our efforts into a merge proposal.
  Most notable changes: important refactorings, rewrite rule fixes, removal of lastmod.
• Custom elements in sitemap (#151)
  There is no consensus yet about what the APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. for adding custom elements (beyond lastmod or priority) could look like, especially when dealing with custom namespaces.
• Custom elements in stylesheet (#152)
  There is still an open PR that tries to make the XSLT stylesheet more dynamic so it automatically displays sitemap elements added by plugins. That means there’s some overlap with the issue mentioned above.
  Interesting side affect: the PR proposes a new esc_xml() function that might be worth looking into.
• Road towards WordPress coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. (#164)
  We’re full steam ahead on improving the source code so it better aligns with WordPress core standards, as well as getting feedback from various core teams on the 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 (i.e. polyglots, accessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility), docs). Also, there is now a TracTrac An open source project by Edgewall Software that serves as a bug tracker and project management tool for WordPress. ticketticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. to reference! See #50117.

Agenda: May 12th

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 12th at 16.00 CEST.

Items on the agenda so far:

• Version 3.0 (#181)
• Custom elements
• Stylesheets
• Currently open issues and pull requests. Including:
  • Removing trailing slashes on URLs (#134)
  • Sanitizing object subtypes for use in URLs (#166)
  • Adding 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. for WP_Query args (#131) (needs owner)
• Current roadmap status
• Open floor

Want to add anything to the above? Please leave a comment here or reach out on SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/..

This meeting is held in the #core-sitemaps channel. To join the meeting, you’ll need an account on the Making WordPress Slack.

#agenda, #feature-plugins, #feature-projects, #sitemaps, #xml-sitemaps

Meeting Recap: April 7th

For reference, check out the previous blogblog (versus network, site) post from April 7th:

What we’ve discussed last week:

• 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 Conflicts (#146)
  We reached the conclusion that such conflicts are actually a non-issue. Plugins are expected to override the default sitemap functionality. For consistency reasons, we keep the wp- prefix.
• Last modified date (#145)
  There is one open question on the PR to keep lastmod for object types that support it out of the box (i.e. posts).
  Current status: needs reviews.
• Rewrite Rules (#147)
  A change was proposed to improve the way rewrite rules are registered for sitemaps. This would avoid having to flush rewrite rules when custom providers are added.
  Current status: needs contributors / reviews.
• Roadmap
  WordPress 5.5 is ought to be released in August. We settled on the following roadmap for sitemaps:
  • Fix remaining big issues – April
  • Refactor code to be closer to WP coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. standards, add safeguards so nothing breaks after merge – April
  • Publish Merge proposal – May
• Extensibility
  It was suggested to add a 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. for the <urlset> element’s attributes so that plugins could easily add namespaced elements to a sitemap (e.g. for image sitemaps).

Agenda: April 14th

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 14th at 16.00 CET.

Items on the agenda so far:

• Last modified date (#145)
• Currently open issues and pull requests
• Open floor

Want to add anything to the above? Please leave a comment here or reach out on SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/..

This meeting is held in the #core-sitemaps channel. To join the meeting, you’ll need an account on the Making WordPress Slack.

#agenda, #feature-plugins, #feature-projects, #sitemaps, #xml-sitemaps

Meeting Recap: March 24th & 31st

For reference, check out the previous blogblog (versus network, site) post from March 24th:

Things that have been discussed in the last two meetings:

• 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 Conflicts (#146)
  We discussed the rewrite rules conflicts that might currently happen with certain plugins. A consensus hasn’t been reached so far, but it could actually be declared a non-issue: if plugin A overrides the default sitemap functionality, that might be intended behavior.
  Current status: needs decision.
• Rewrite Rules (#147)
  A change was proposed to improve the way rewrite rules are registered for sitemaps. This would avoid having to flush rewrite rules when custom providers are added.
  Current status: needs contributors.
• Last modified date (#145)
  The PR to remove all traces of lastmod has been updated to include documentation.
  Current status: needs reviews.
• Filterable query args
  #137 has been closed in anticipation of an improved solution to 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. query arguments.
  Current status: needs PR.
• Private sites (#138)
  Current status: PR needs some work
• Roadmap
  WordPress 5.5 is ought to be released in August. We need to continue working on 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. so we have something merge-able in May or June. The tentative roadmap would be:
  • Fix remaining big issues – April
  • Refactor code to be closer to WP coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. standards, add safeguards so nothing breaks after merge – April
  • Publish Merge proposal – May
    

Agenda: April 7th

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 6th at 16.00 CET.

Today’s agenda is rather straightforward so far:

• Plugin conflicts
• Last modified date (#145)
• Road towards WordPress 5.5
• Currently open issues and pull requests
• Open floor

Want to add anything to the above? Please leave a comment here or reach out on SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/..

This meeting is held in the #core-sitemaps channel , to join the meeting, you’ll need an account on the Making WordPress Slack.

#agenda, #feature-plugins, #feature-projects, #sitemaps, #xml-sitemaps

In case you were looking for an blogblog (versus network, site) post about the XML Sitemaps feature project last week, worry no more. Work on the 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 is progressing smoothly and steadily, we just didn’t publish an agenda post last week. That means it is time for a double update today!

Meeting Recap: March 10th & 17th

For reference, check my previous blog post from March 10th:

A lot has happened since then. Here’s the summary, not necessarily in the right order:

• SimpleXML dependency
  We received great feedback from a variety of big hosting providers, all saying that this PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher extension is widely available and we can rely on it safely.
  Current status: no action needed.
• Rewrite rule conflictconflict A conflict occurs when a patch changes code that was modified after the patch was created. These patches are considered stale, and will require a refresh of the changes before it can be applied, or the conflicts will need to be resolved. with plugins
  As we realized that the new /wp-sitemap.xml URLURL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org format clashes with big existing plugins, we decided to look into alternate names for both the rewrite rules as well as the query params. See GitHub issue for details.
  Current status: needs contributors.
• Rewrite rule issues with custom providers
  It was reported that adding custom sitemap providers might require flushing rewrite rules. Ideally, that shouldn’t be needed.
  Current status: needs decision.
• Last modified date (lastmod)
  We decided to continue with the proposed PR to remove lastmod from sitemaps (at least for now), but need to make sure there is appropriate documentation. It’s something that can always be added back if needed.
  Current status: has PR, needs documentation.
• Query Filters
  Valuable feedback emerged from testing, which led to the decision to close the existing PR to make query instances filterable in favor of a simpler approach. In its place, we should make the query arguments filterable, and also add filters to short-circuit queries.
  Current status: needs contributors.

Please let me know in the comments if I got something wrong in this summary!

Agenda: March 24th

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 24 at 16.00 CET.

Today’s agenda is rather straightforward so far:

• Rewrite Rules (#146, #147)
• 404 Handling (#149)
• Last modified date
• Currently open issues and pull requests
• Open floor

Want to add anything to the above? Please leave a comment here or reach out on SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/..

This meeting is held in the #core-sitemaps channel , to join the meeting, you’ll need an account on the Making WordPress Slack.

#agenda, #feature-plugins, #feature-projects, #sitemaps, #xml-sitemaps