![\"\ud83e\udd17\"](\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/17.0.2\/72x72\/1f917.png\")
The next step for the security team is to backport the 6.9.4 fixes to older version for WordPress, all the way back to WordPress 4.7.. It\u2019s a huge job and it needs to be diligently executed. <\/p>\nHi,<\/p>\n
This week, we saw many updates in WordPress Core with two Betas and three security releases. Your auto-update email folder got plenty of traffic if you are managing more than one website The next step for the security team is to backport the 6.9.4 fixes to older version for WordPress, all the way back to WordPress 4.7.. It\u2019s a huge job and it needs to be diligently executed. <\/p>\n
Be well and hope you can enjoy Spring or Fall colors. <\/p>\n
Yours, WordPress 6.9.2<\/strong><\/a>, led by John Blackbourn<\/strong>, is a security-only release you\u2019ll want to apply immediately. It patches ten vulnerabilities: a blind SSRF, a PoP-chain weakness in the HTML API and Block Registry, regex DoS in numeric character references, stored XSS in nav menus and via the WordPress 7.0 Beta 5 is available for testing<\/strong><\/a>, packing over 101 fixes since Beta 3. The headline new feature is a Command Palette shortcut<\/strong> in the Omnibar \u2014 logged-in editors will spot a Ben Dwyer<\/strong> recaps what\u2019s new in Gutenberg 22.7<\/a>,<\/strong> a feature-packed release. You\u2019ll find a new experimental Connectors screen under Settings, letting you manage AI providers like OpenAI with extension hooks for plugins. Real-time collaboration is now enabled by default, style variation transforms show live previews, the Grid block visualizer is more responsive, and the Playlist block gains a WaveForm Player. <\/p>\n Maggie Cabrera<\/strong> and I sat down to discuss the latest Gutenberg release and the Dev notes for WordPress 7.0. It\u2019s been a while since we chatted and it was a great conversation. As always, the episode will drop into your favorite podcast app over the weekend. Stay tuned. <\/p>\n Anne McCarthy<\/strong> has issued a call for volunteers to build the Twenty Twenty-Seven default theme<\/strong><\/a>, with Henrique Iamarino<\/strong> confirmed as lead designer. Targeting the WordPress 7.2 release in early December, the team is getting started early to allow room for iteration. If you want to contribute to development or testing, leave a comment on the post by Friday, March 27th \u2014 the community response has already been enthusiastic.<\/p>\n This month\u2019s What\u2019s New for Developers (March 2026)<\/strong><\/a> is your essential pre-launch briefing as WordPress 7.0 approaches RC1 on March 19. The big headline is Real-Time Collaboration, now built on HTTP polling with Yjs and CRDT data stored in post_meta. You\u2019ll also find AI provider packages for OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic landing in the Plugin Directory, plus visual in-editor revision tracking, a new Icon block, Content-Only pattern editing by default, and phpMyAdmin support in wp-env\u2019s Playground runtime.<\/p>\n Maggie Cabrera <\/strong>outlines what\u2019s new with pseudo-element support for blocks and their variations in theme.json<\/strong><\/a> in WordPress 7.0. You can now define Gopal Krishnan<\/strong> outlines what plugin and theme developers need to know about real-time collaboration in the block editor<\/strong><\/a> in WordPress 7.0, powered by Yjs. Collaboration is disabled when classic meta boxes are present, so you\u2019ll want to migrate those to registered post meta with Anne McCarthy<\/strong> shared a candid look at three Notes features for WordPress<\/a> <\/strong>that didn\u2019t quite make the 7.0 cut \u2014 show\/hide notes on the canvas, filter options in the Notes panel, and compact notes. All built with Claude Code as part of her \u201cLearn AI deeply\u201d effort. She\u2019s openly working through open questions, including whether \u201cOpen\u201d or \u201cUnresolved\u201d is the clearer label, and whether a resizable sidebar should replace the compact toggle entirely. Chime in if you are interested and have an opinion. <\/p>\n Brandon Payton<\/strong> announced my.WordPress.net<\/a>,<\/strong> a browser-based WordPress that requires no sign-up, no hosting, and no domain \u2014 just open it and start creating. Built on WordPress Playground, your site lives privately in your browser, persists across visits, and stays entirely yours. An App Catalog offers one-click installs for a personal CRM, RSS reader via the Friends plugin, and an AI workspace that can modify plugins on your behalf. As Alex Kirk puts it, this is WordPress democratizing digital sovereignty. <\/p>\n Where the official announcement focused on the product itself, Matt Mullenweg<\/strong>\u2018s WordPress Everywhere<\/strong><\/a> is the strategic vision behind it. He zooms out to explain what\u2019s coming next \u2014 peer-to-peer sync, version control integration, and cloud publishing \u2014 and frames Playground containers as composable, atomic units you can roll back entirely. Mullenweg believes this shifts WordPress from millions of installs to billions, with AI making open source more powerful, not less relevant.<\/p>\n Sarah Perez<\/strong> covers WordPress\u2019s new browser-based workspace, my.WordPress.net<\/strong><\/a>, for TechCrunch. <\/p>\n Emma Roth<\/strong> reported about it for The Verge: WordPress launches an in-browser website creator<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Ben Werdmuller<\/strong> marvels at your browser becoming your WordPress<\/a> \u2014 a genuine innovation announced by Brandon Payton. Built on WordPress Playground and powered by WASM, my.WordPress.net installs a full WordPress instance directly in your browser: no sign-up, no hosting, nothing between you and a running site. Werdmuller wonders about cross-device syncing and sees broader implications \u2014 to-do lists, CRMs, source management \u2014 as a glimpse of what private, browser-based personal apps could become.<\/p>\n If you get a chance to try my.WordPress.net<\/a> in its current early state, go in with the right expectations: this is a proof of concept, a rough but genuinely exciting experiment. The App Catalog reframes plugin discovery in a way that just feels right, and the idea of a private personal space \u2014 where outside research meets things you want to keep to yourself \u2014 is compelling. Give it a few months, more apps, and a designer\u2019s touch.<\/p>\n Just before the official announcement of My WordPress, Ray Morey interviewed Adam Zieli\u0144ski\u2019 on his vision for Playground in 2026<\/strong><\/a> and also recounts the history of WordPress Playground starting in 2022. <\/p>\n On the WooCommerce Developer Blog, Brian Coords <\/strong>invites you to Building Ecommerce Community: Meetups, Networks, and Real-World WooCommerce<\/strong><\/a>, a free 60-minute panel on March 31, 2026 (17:00\u201318:00 UTC). Coords brings together Amber Hinds<\/strong> (Equalize Digital), Mary Hubbard<\/strong> (WordPress Executive Director), and Raquel Manriquez<\/strong> (PressConf) for an honest conversation about building community, finding collaborators, and getting real value from events \u2014 whether you\u2019re an agency, freelancer, or developer who\u2019s never quite felt at home in a crowd. <\/p>\n Mike McAlister<\/strong> has expanded Ollie into WooCommerce<\/strong> territory<\/a>, adding dedicated shop templates, product grid patterns, custom WooCommerce blocks, and a guided setup wizard \u2014 all built natively for full site editing. You can design and customize your store, product pages, cart, and checkout entirely inside the WordPress site editor. One user reported a 170% year-over-year sales increase after rebuilding their client\u2019s store with Ollie.<\/p>\n Rae Morey<\/strong>, The Repository also reported on it in Ollie Moves Into Ecommerce With Full WooCommerce Support<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Derek Hanson,<\/strong> Technical Account Manager at Automattic, shares 10 field-tested tips for building custom WordPress blocks with Telex AI<\/strong><\/a>, drawn from real agency work on his team. You\u2019ll learn practical techniques like drafting prompts in Claude before opening Telex, using post-it sketches as visual references, remixing projects as version control checkpoints, and knowing when a block has outgrown the tool and needs a developer to finish it properly.<\/p>\n In his latest video, Wes Theron<\/strong> shows you how to speed up your designs with WordPress patterns<\/strong><\/a>. You will learn how to quickly build and customize professional WordPress layouts using block patterns. Theron shows you how to insert, modify, and create patterns to design pages effortlessly.<\/p>\n The Create Block Theme plugin v2.9.0<\/a> brings a handful of focused improvements to your theme-building workflow. <\/p>\n \u201cKeeping up with Gutenberg \u2013 Index 2025\u201d<\/a> <\/strong> The previous years are also available: In this week\u2019s livestream, Ryan Welcher<\/strong> and Troy Chaplin<\/strong> teamed up on this episode of Talk Devy To Me<\/a> to walk you through \u201cVeils of Fate,\u201d a fully functional Choose Your Own Adventure game Chaplin built entirely with the WordPress Interactivity API. You\u2019ll see how he delivers instant feedback and seamless state changes across game choices \u2014 no page reloads, no JavaScript framework. A creative, boundary-pushing demonstration of what the Interactivity API can do beyond typical block development use cases.<\/p>\n Wojtek Naruniec<\/strong> writes about two new debugging tools now available in WordPress Studio<\/strong><\/a>: Xdebug support and a debug log toggle. Xdebug lets you set breakpoints and step through code line-by-line from your editor on port 9003, no system-level installation is needed. The debug log toggle sets Jeffrey Paul<\/strong> recaps what\u2019s new in AI Experiments 0.4.0<\/strong><\/a> for the WordPress AI Team. This release, shaped by 14 contributors, introduces prompt-based image generation in the editor and Media Library, along with a Generate Review Notes experiment for accessibility, readability, grammar, and SEO suggestions.<\/p>\n In another post, Paul outlines what\u2019s new in AI Experiments 0.5.0<\/strong><\/a>, a focused release aligning with WordPress 7.0. It removes AI client dependencies, using the WP AI Client in core instead, while previous credentials migrate to a new Connectors screen. The plugin is available<\/a> in the repository.<\/p>\n Ray Morey<\/strong> reported on both releases for The Repository: AI Experiments Plugin Gets Two Updates in a Week, With WordPress 7.0 Now the Focus<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Elliott Richmond<\/strong> put wordpress-agent-skills repo and Automattic\u2019s Claude Cowork plugin through its paces<\/a><\/strong> and came away impressed. Describe your site, pick from three AI-generated design directions, and a complete block theme \u2014 Need a plugin .zip from Gutenberg\u2019s master branch?<\/a><\/strong> Now also available via WordPress Playground<\/a>. There is no need for a test site locally or on a server. Have you been using it? Email me <\/a>with your experience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Questions? Suggestions? Ideas? <\/em> For questions to be answered on the Gutenberg Changelog<\/a>, ![\"\ud83d\udc95\"](\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/17.0.2\/72x72\/1f495.png\")
Birgit<\/em><\/p>\nDeveloping Gutenberg and WordPress<\/h2>\n
data-wp-bind<\/code> directive, an AJAX authorization bypass, a PclZip path traversal, and an XXE in the bundled getID3 library\u2014now also patched upstream by James Heinrich.<\/p>\n
\n\u2318K<\/code> \/ Ctrl+K<\/code> symbol in the admin bar, giving you instant access to navigation and customization tools from anywhere on the site. The final release remains scheduled for April 9, 2026. <\/p>\n
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\n:hover<\/code>, :focus<\/code>, :focus-visible<\/code>, and :active<\/code> states directly on blocks and their style variations \u2014 no custom CSS needed. An \u201cOutline\u201d button variation, for instance, can have its own distinct hover behavior. No Global Styles UI yet; that work continues separately.<\/p>\n
\nshow_in_rest<\/code>. The new sync.providers<\/code> filter lets you swap the default HTTP polling transport for WebSockets or WebRTC. Avoid local React state for shared data \u2014 always derive values from the WordPress data store.<\/p>\n\n\n![\"\ud83c\udf99\"](\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/17.0.2\/72x72\/1f399.png\")
The latest episode is Gutenberg Changelog #127 \u2013 WordPress 7.0 Beta and Gutenberg 22.6<\/a> with special guest Jessica Lyschik<\/strong>, senior developer at Greyd<\/p>\n![\"Jessica](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gutenbergtimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-27-at-12.47.56.png?resize=652%2C184&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nMy WordPress<\/h3>\n
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\nPlugins, Themes, and Tools for #nocode site builders and owners<\/h2>\n
![\"WooCommerce](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gutenbergtimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WooCommerce-Community-Panel-1.webp?resize=652%2C367&ssl=1\")
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\nTheme Development for Full Site Editing and Blocks<\/h2>\n
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A chronological list of the WordPress Make Blog posts from various teams involved in Gutenberg development: Design, Theme Review Team, Core Editor, Core JS, Core CSS, Test, and Meta team from Jan. 2024 on. Updated by yours truly.\u2002<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>2020<\/a> | 2021<\/a><\/strong> | 2022<\/a><\/strong> | 2023<\/a><\/strong> | 2024<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBuilding Blocks and Tools for the Block editor.<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\nWP_DEBUG<\/code> and WP_DEBUG_LOG<\/code> automatically and adds a direct \u201cOpen log file\u201d link in Settings. A bonus tip: point your AI agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex) at wp-content\/debug.log<\/code> to interpret errors hands-free.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gutenbergtimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/wordpress-studio-enable-xdebug.webp?resize=652%2C474&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nAI and WordPress<\/h2>\n
\ntheme.json<\/code>, templates, patterns, the lot \u2014 deploys straight to WordPress Studio in minutes. The generated code follows solid conventions and is yours to iterate on. Setup requires MCP configuration and Studio CLI, so developers will find it straightforward; everyone else faces a steeper climb. Token usage on Opus is substantial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Gutenberg Times provides daily build for testing and review.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gutenbergtimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2025-11-15-at-12.06.44.png?resize=196%2C45&ssl=1\")
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Don\u2019t hesitate to send them via email<\/a> or<\/em>
send me a message on WordPress Slack or Twitter @bph<\/em>.<\/p>\n
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send them to changelog@gutenbergtimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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