I read the WordCamp Europe 2026 schedule as a prep list. Register one Abilities API entry on staging, run the WordPress 7.0 upgrade on a copy, and pick the sessions you will actually use before Kraków or the livestream.
WooCommerce 10.8 brings security fixes, new database indexes and fewer queries, plus a checkout-draft change on the orders REST API that can hide orders from integrations. Here’s what I’d check before updating a client store, and when I’d wait.
The new Achievements page in the WordPress.com Reader ships with notifications on and settings that only exist in a browser. Here’s what shipped, why the badges aren’t retroactive, and the two places to switch the pings off.
The media editor modal is now the default way to edit images in the block editor. Its Save button changes the block instance, not the attachment or its generated sizes, and that matters a lot on a WooCommerce store.
WordPress has retired the “beta” label for PHP 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5 support, and 7.0 no longer runs on anything below PHP 7.4. Here is what changed and why it is time to stop treating PHP 8 as experimental.
WordPress.com launched Jetpack Podcast, which publishes audio next to your blog and newsletter. Here’s why owning the RSS feed is the real win, plus how to extend that feed with a couple of PHP hooks.
WordPress.com’s Posts to Podcast feature turns blog posts into AI-generated audio from the dashboard. I look at how it stores the files, the media bloat risk, and how to manage the assets with WP-CLI and a theme hook.
WooCommerce.com now runs its production store on Nightly WC Core. An AI-assisted pipeline handles patch replays and diff reviews, and the setup has already caught a dropped 15GB index before it could ship in 10.8.
WordPress 7.1 is planned for August 19, 2026, with a smaller release squad that leans on the Make Team Reps. Here is the schedule, how to test the alpha with WP-CLI, and which lead roles are open.
Felix Arntz and James are stepping back as Core AI Team Reps, and Jason Adams takes over. The handover lands as the Abilities API matures and the WP AI Client heads into core for WordPress 7.0.