WordPress Playground had a massive 2025, evolving from a simple browser demo into a powerful development tool. With a 42% speed increase and 99% plugin compatibility, it is now a reliable sandbox for testing, teaching, and prototyping. Learn how updates to Blueprints and database support are changing the WordPress development workflow.
Explaining the critical fixes for special characters in the WooCommerce 10.5 REST API. If you have struggled with non-ASCII attribute names (Persian, Arabic, Chinese) failing to save or map correctly, this update is for you. Learn how to audit your existing workarounds and ensure your product variation syncs are stable.
WooCommerce 10.5 introduces a major change to product permalink logic. Instead of sorting by term ID, the system now automatically selects the deepest category in the hierarchy for the URL. This update improves SEO clarity but may shift existing URLs. Learn how it works, how it affects your store, and how to revert it if necessary.
WordPress 7.0 development is moving forward with a major decision: officially dropping support for PHP 7.2 and 7.3. Senior developer Ahmad Wael breaks down why this modernization matters for security and performance, explores the new PHP filter extension debate, and shares how to prepare your codebase for the future of WordPress.
The January 2026 WordPress Performance chat revealed major shifts for the upcoming 7.0 release. Highlights include changing Speculative Loading’s default eagerness to “moderate,” resolving Admin View Transition bugs, and fixing modern image format issues in core. Learn how these updates impact your site’s LCP and server load.
WooCommerce 10.5 introduces a major refactor to WooCommerce variation price caching, replacing full object serialization with stable signatures via the new CallbackUtil class. This update reduces price lookup execution from 500ms to 40ms for large variation sets, though developers must now manually hook into the cache hash for dynamic pricing.
WordPress 7.0 is officially dropping support for PHP 7.2 and 7.3 in April 2026, setting PHP 7.4 as the new minimum requirement. Ahmad Wael breaks down why this change is necessary for security, performance, and the long-term maintainability of the WordPress ecosystem, and what it means for your legacy sites.
The latest WordPress Dev Chat sparked a debate on whether Core should require the PHP filter extension. With PHPMailer currently dependent on it, contributors are considering removing the usage entirely to improve server compatibility. Ahmad Wael explains why this matters for your 6.9 retrospective feedback and future site stability.
Continuous learning for WordPress developers is essential, but it shouldn’t lead to burnout. Senior dev Ahmad Wael shares pragmatic strategies for managing constant updates, from high-volume scanning to deep-dive deep dives and the power of solitude. Learn how to stay relevant in the fast-moving WordPress ecosystem without losing your mind or your passion.
WordPress developer Ahmad Wael discusses the latest Dev Chat agenda, focusing on the PHP extensions filter proposal and why it’s critical for a robust WordPress Development Workflow. Learn how to stop reacting to hosting failures and start building resilient, architected environments that prevent crashes before they happen in production.