WordPress 6.9 overhauls how you build custom admin forms in Gutenberg. A look at the Field API, DataViews, and DataForm: more field types, rule-based validation, and reusable UI controls that cut the custom code.
A client deployed WordPress 6.9 RC1 straight to a live WooCommerce store and it broke. The fix is not a rollback, it is a real testing plan: a dedicated environment and conditional code keyed to the WordPress version.
A client’s custom site was failing accessibility checks and getting patched with inline styles and stray aria-hidden. WordPress 6.9 moves much of this into core, from screen reader notifications to live regions, so you build it in by design.
A real case from a client site: how the WordPress 6.9 heading block CSS specificity fix changed padding on custom feature boxes, and why a proper fix beats a quick override.
A junior dev used the allowed_block_types_all filter globally and it broke the Site Editor. Here is why that happens and how to check the context so you restrict blocks for posts and pages while leaving templates alone.
A WooCommerce Add to Cart button kept turning the wrong color because stylesheets were fighting with !important. Here is how to fix it with CSS specificity and a child theme instead of piling on more overrides.
A reporting plugin built entirely on the Singleton pattern served stale inventory data across a client’s site. Here’s why singletons hide global state in WordPress, and the static init() method that keeps your classes testable.
A client had a WooCommerce checkout throwing random 500 errors while a 200MB debug log told them nothing. Here is the custom error logging setup I used to catch, count, and get alerted on new errors.
A freelancer rebuilt WooCommerce from scratch and left a store that broke on every plugin update. Here is why building with WordPress hooks and filters beats fighting the framework.
A client WooCommerce checkout kept throwing a random fatal error. The fix was not more code, it was reading the core files first. Why reading code beats writing more of it.