Gutenberg Changelog 119 – WordPress 6.8.2 and 6.9, Gutenberg 21.1, 21.2, and 21.3 Releases

Birgit Pauli-Haack and guest Tammie Lister discuss the latest WordPress and Gutenberg updates, including WordPress 6.8.2 and 6.9, as well as Gutenberg plugin releases 21.1, 21.2, and 21.3. They highlight the renewed excitement around shipping features, the introduction of a core AI team, and significant developments such as Data Views, advanced admin design planning, and ongoing…

https://gutenbergtimes.com/podcast/gutenberg-changelog-119-wordpress-6-8-2-and-6-9-gutenberg-21-1-21-2-and-21-3-releases/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Roadmap for WordPress 6.9, Block Bindings, Mega Menus, and More—Weekend Edition 336

Read onlineIssue #336 | August 2, 2025 Hi there, I found a new AI tool, and I like it very much: Claude Code. For $20 per month you get a fabulous buddy to co-create plugins and themes for WordPress or scripts and modules for other purposes. It works right there in your terminal window. It helped me a great deal writing a plugin for the Gutenberg Changelog podcast so I can build a great…

https://gutenbergtimes.com/roadmap-for-wordpress-6-9-block-bindings-mega-menus-and-more-weekend-edition-336/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

In a meeting today, the chair decided to use Copilot to transcribe. Everyone spoke really fast with very strong Scottish accents, including one person littering their Scots English with Doric.

Dunno if it was deliberate, but it was hilarious.

Oddly, no sign of the auto transcript...

WP-Admin Redesign, Block theme adoption — Weekend Edition 335

Read onlineIssue #335 | July 26, 2025 Hi, ICYMI, organizers of WordCamp US (WCUS) announced Danny Sullivan, search liaison at Google, as the keynote speaker. It's hugely relevant now that sites are dealing with decreasing clicks from search engines. The brilliant Rae Morey of The Repository has the skinny for you about what else is happening at WCUS.

https://gutenbergtimes.com/wp-admin-redesign-block-theme-adoption-weekend-edition-335/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Example of a WordPress post in Mastodon

This is a post I wrote in WordPress.

You can also read it in Mastodon, via ActivityPub, and a bridge that Automattic created to adapt WordPress posts to the language of ActivityPub.

Here are some of the features that are supported:

• This post has a title (it's optional).

• Simple styling: bold, italic, numbered lists (see below), bulleted lists, subheads. 

• Hyperlinks, the defining feature of the web, omitted from all twitter-like products, e.g. Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, Twitter.

• The posts are editable, if I make a change to the WordPress post, that change is quickly reflected in the ActivityPub version. 

• This post is much longer than the typical Mastodon post, illustrating the lack of a character limit.

A numbered list, all the continents of the world, in alphabetic order:

Discussion

What's remarkable about this feature list is that it's basically the features of the web and the features of RSS, which are also the features of WordPress. These are also the basic features I call for twitter-like services to support in the textcasting spec (2022). 

By opening this door to developers, easily and quickly, via RSS, we implement the "open" part of it. Until that happens, it's effectively out of reach to developers. If to get into this club you have to support ActivityPub, that's too high a barrier of entry, as we have seen. ActivityPub should be supported well, once, and then accessible via the simplicity of RSS. 

PS: This document has 347 words and 2475 characters.

PPS: This was an example for the post I wrote on Scripting News this morning. It explains why we need the same thing WordPress does for ActivityPub to work for RSS too, so developers can build apps that hook up to Mastodon. We have yet to see Masto become an easy platform for web developers, which is why it's wrong to say it's part of the web. When that happens the doors will open for all kinds of creativity.

🎉 Development for Mastodon compatible #ActivityPub polls in #WordPress is starting. This project is receiving funding from the latest round of the NGI Zero Commons Fund. #ngi0 #NLnet

https://codeberg.org/linos/wordpress-polls-for-activitypub

@activitypub.blog

Automating simple tasks on Google Drive and Google Storage for the pocast Gutenberg Changelog

This week, I succeeded again using AI to automatic a few interconnected tasks. Gemini is a great buddy for that. Now I have command line tool, written in Python that does this:

Set-up a new podcast episode on Google Drive:

Create a new folder for the next episode

Find the Run Down tempate in the podcast top folder

Drop a copy of the Run Down template into the next episode’s folder.

Publish the mp3 file on Google Storage

After the producer drops the final episode file in the […]

https://icodeforapurpose.com/automating-simple-tasks-on-google-drive-and-google-storage-for-the-pocast-gutenberg-changelog/

The Largest Camera Ever Built Releases Its First Images of the Cosmos

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is poised to discover billions of new astronomical objects, revolutionizing understanding of everything from the history of the solar system to the workings of dark energy.

https://www.wired.com/story/opening-of-the-vera-rubin-observatory/

Interactivity API, WordPress 6.8.2, Transitions API and Pride Photo Drive — Weekend Edition #333

Read onlineIssue #333 | June 21, 2025 Hi there, Are you ready for a summer break of the Gutenberg Times? I am definitely ready for a vacation. It's been a fabulous first half of the year with plenty of new experiences, and reconnecting with friends in the WordPress community. There is soo much inspiring creativity in the community around block editor, Playground and AI.

https://gutenbergtimes.com/interactivity-api-wordpress-6-8-2-transitions-api-and-pride-photo-drive-weekend-edition-333/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social