– ‘good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you happen to be hiding out there on the globe today! Coming to you LIVE from …’

Salutations and Some Reminders:

Welcome to Episode 635 – Chrono Crisis: WordPress Users Frantically Update as Time Slips Away – We’ve got a couple of great in-depth plugins to cover for you, some recent news in both the WordPress World and the Tech World in general, and some awesome WordPress Tips!

The day of spooky season is coming up! Hopefully everyone out there has figured out SOMEthing to wear – I haven’t yet, but my teens have! And they HAVE stated that if I do not figure out what to wear, they will figure out something for me – nothing like the threat of being dressed by teens to get a parent moving!

Still looking for any suggestions from those out there who are good with games! Thoughts on creating this idea of Plugin Battle Royale? Shoot me a message at amber@wppro.ca! Good or bad ideas – the worse the better ’cause usually genius comes from the supposed ‘bad’ ideas – all are welcome! And don’t worry, you will absolutely get credit! Unless you don’t want it and wand to remain anonymous – that’s an option too!

A few reminders before we start the show today….

Reminders:

• Be sure to check out our newer news thing called N3w$ 4 Y0u! You can find it on our homepage right next to the latest podcast, and on our left-hand menu!
• Show starts at 12:30pm Pacific Time every other week on Monday! Join in for the pre-stream entertainment at about 12:15ish! You’ll find the show notes on the home page of wppluginsatoz.com within 24(ish) hours after every show!
• This is a value for value show dear listeners, help us get some loven by hitting some like buttons, sharing an episode or two, or lovingly forcing your family members to listen to us by cranking our show way up! After all, you can’t go wrong helping out the longest running WordPress Podcast!

Don’t run away at the end either – we got some good questions and some awesome conversation coming up!

...When you see this in the notes, it means we didn’t read this on the show. The only way to find this information out is to read our Show Notes!

…You can send any questions/suggestions or notes saying ‘hi’ over to me at amber@wppro.ca, or hit up our site wpppluginsatoz.com/contact – Be creative with the title so that the spammer eater doesn’t eat your note though!

Let’s start the show with this weeks Featured Artist:

Artist: 

Grok! You can check him and his artistic talents out by going here and following the directions.
You will wind up being re-routed to here, and although you are getting a sort of lame version you will at least be getting an idea of the real Grok!
The other option, and the best one really ’cause you will be able to get the full version of Grok, is to go to the X (formally Twitter) site and pay for premium for proper access to Grok.

We would love some new art from our Producers out there! If you are so inclined, you can send it into us at https://wppluginsatoz.com/artwork/. If you need some inspiration, you can always go to our site wppluginsatoz.com and check out our Art Vaults – you will find the link for it on the left hand side.

…We can NEVER have too much art!

Breaking News in the WordPress World at large!! 

This is just a little taste of what will come out on Wednesday for everyone! Send anything in to me at amber@wppro.ca that you think should go into the Wed’s N3W$ 4 Y0U!

News this week:

Johns input

https://blogaid.net/how-to-update-wp-engine-plugins-including-delicious-brains-and-genesis/
https://patchstack.com/articles/security-implications-of-wordpress-repository-access-restrictions-and-plugin-closures/
follow the wp saga https://wpvswpe.report/
Shoutout to this guy for some great useful code
https://bacsoftwareconsulting.com/wordpress-cat/how-to-preserve-html-tags-in-wordpress-excerpt-without-a-plugin/

WordPress Vulnerability Report – October 23, 2024
(https://solidwp.com/blog/wordpress-vulnerability-report-october-23-2024/) – In this report there are 312 vulnerabilities; 306 of these are Plugins – 130 plugins have been patched so far.
There are 6 Themes with vulnerabilities – 1 has been patched at this time.

WordPress Vulnerability Report from PatchStack
(https://patchstack.com/database/) – These guys always have the latest information on what is going on regarding the latest in vulnerabilities.

Jetpack 13.9.1 Patches a Critical Security Flaw
(https://wptavern.com/jetpack-13-9-1-patches-a-critical-security-flaw)  – JetPack 13.9.1 has had a critical security update. This was released on October 14th to fix a vulnerability in the Contact Form feature that had been present since 2016. This flaw has allowed logged-in users of a site to access forms submitted by visitors. If you haven’t already, be sure to update!

WP Engine Files Injunction, Hearing Set for November 26, 2024
(https://wptavern.com/wp-engine-files-injunction-hearing-set-for-november-26-2024) – This the most recent update in the drama that has been unfolding for the last month. WP Engine filed a motion on October 18, 2024 for a preliminary injunction in a Northern California court, seeking restored access to WordPress.org and a reversion to conditions as of September 20, 2024. The hearing is set for November 26, 2024. If you are not fully aware of the entire story so far, you can check out our past n3ws 4 y0u issues, our past show notes – or you can go to the WordPress vs. WP Engine Dispute Timeline someone has been kind enough to write out.

WordPress Themes Repository now houses 1000 block themes
(https://wptavern.com/wordpress-themes-repository-now-houses-1000-block-themes) – Amongst all the drama Llama’s we have some good news! The repository has hit an exciting milestone of 1,000 Block Themes! As of October 23, there are over 12,000 free themes too! Check out the article to learn more about this!

WordPress 6.7 Release Candidate 1
(https://wordpress.org/news/2024/10/wordpress-6-7-release-candidate-1/) – The first release candidate (RC1) for WordPress 6.7 is ready for download and testing! For those of you who enjoy being on the cutting edge, or poking holes in all new things to help make it better and stronger, you can now go and check this out! You can test it out in four ways: Plugin, Direct Download, Command Line, or WordPress Playground. Have fun Storming The Castle!

WordPress expands Code of Conduct to private conversations, community reacts
(https://wptavern.com/wordpress-expands-code-of-conduct-to-private-conversations-community-reacts) – Unfortunately though, we do have this Drama Llama to add as the icing of our 2024 WordPress experience. The Code of Conduct has been expanded to include Private Conversations, and the Community is reacting. You can read over the information on the expansion for the Code of Conduct here: ‘Expanding Our Code of Conduct to Protect Private Conversations’, and the newly revamped here: ‘Community Code of Conduct’.

How to update WP Engine Plugins including Delicious Brains and Genesis
(https://blogaid.net/how-to-update-wp-engine-plugins-including-delicious-brains-and-genesis/) – A great article brought to you by Blog Aid on how to update during this crazy time. Blog Aid is a fantastic place to go for information, I highly recommend that everyone go through her site to see what she has to offer. There is a lot there!

Space Rover tests ‘natural intelligence’ based on insect brains
(https://thenextweb.com/news/airbus-space-rover-tests-opteran-insect-brains-natural-intelligence) – I thought this was actually pretty neat! Scientists have been researching the neurological differences between various insects – like honeybee’s who have about 1 million neurons, though still have quite impressive power! So by using this information, they are seeing if they can’t put the information such as complex navigation, obstacle avoidance, and communication into the rover. Really quite fascinating – and is likely an idea that will be scooped up and used for all AI in the future.

Some Extras

Check out the N3W$ 4 Y0U coming out on Weds for more, or you can check out our Facebook or Twitter!

Security implications of WordPress repository access restrictions and plugin closures
(https://patchstack.com/articles/security-implications-of-wordpress-repository-access-restrictions-and-plugin-closures/)

Developers remove plugins from WordPress.org repository after ACF controversy
(https://wptavern.com/developers-remove-plugins-from-wordpress-org-repository-after-acf-controversy)

WP Fusion Lite Plugin removed from WordPres.com following a cease and desist letter
(https://wptavern.com/wp-fusion-lite-plugin-removed-from-wordpress-com-following-a-cease-and-desist-letter)

How to preserve HTML tags in WordPress Except Without a Plugin
(https://bacsoftwareconsulting.com/wordpress-cat/how-to-preserve-html-tags-in-wordpress-excerpt-without-a-plugin/)

HeroPress turns ten
(https://wptavern.com/heropress-turns-ten)

State of Enterprise WordPress 2024 Survey is now open
(https://wptavern.com/state-of-enterprise-wordpress-2024-survey-is-now-open)

ACF plugin forked to ‘Secure Custom Fields’ plugin
(https://wptavern.com/acf-plugin-forked-to-secure-custom-fields-plugin)

WordPress.org login gets mandatory affiliation checkbox following WP Engine dispute
(https://wptavern.com/wordpress-org-login-gets-mandatory-affiliation-checkbox-following-wp-engine-dispute)

Dragon Rating Time!

John’s Plugin

Countdown Timer Ultimate

https://wordpress.org/plugins/countdown-timer-ultimate/

The Lowdown:
A very simple plugin to add a countdown timer to your website.  Countdown timer allow you to create a nice and functional Countdown timer in just in a few minutes. This is the best way to create beautiful Countdown timers for your users. You can use our Countdown timer in your posts/pages.
This also works with Gutenberg shortcode block.
You can create multiple countdown timers and display them with a  shortcode. The easiest way to place your full customizable HTML5  Countdown Timer.

Rating 5 Dragons

WordPress Tips

We would love to hear some tid bit tips from some of our producers out there – what did you figure out by breaking something? Or what did you need to learn in order to help someone? You can send these tid bits into me at amber@wppro.ca

A while back, I was rebuilding this site. It was a bit of an intricate site, and had a lot going on with it. I managed to get the entire thing rebuilt and functioning beautifully!

And then something stopped working. It was images on the site – they were broken for some reason.

Well, I went through and finally figured out that I had forgotten to reset everything in the ‘Easy Updates Manager’. This meant that everything we had set to not tell us about the updates available was still sitting where it had been many moons ago – so rather out of date.

So of course, I went to the dev site. I jumped and broke everything. I updated in increments and it worked, but the pictues still wouldnt work.

I wound up eventually reaching out to the guys who built the plugin, and they were absolutely amazing! So helpful, so awesome, even had a sense of humor!

Odd thing though – they didn’t actually do anything. Sure, they gave me great advice on things to try, reassured me, joked around with me – but they were not able to do anything differently then I had.

And randomly it just started working.

Both the guys from the plugin company and I were like those statues from Dr Who, those weeping angels – soon as it started working we froze and asked one another if they had done anything.

NOPE!

To this day, that site is working perfectly! No idea how we fixed it, what we did, whether it was them or me. Don’t really care either.

I tell you this story to let you know that sometimes things just work for no apparent reason – and when they do, DO NOT go looking to see why they are working, ’cause I’ll bet if you do they will break down again. I also tell you that sometimes we cause issues by forgetting the simplest of steps.

Don’t beat yourself up when you miss a simple step like resetting the ‘Easy Updates Plugin’. What’s done is done, and you will be able to figure out how to fix the issue. Just trust in yourself – and if the AI Godmother comes along with her Virtual Wand and makes things work, just be thankful. Don’t question. ;)

…Some random entertainment in the World of WordPress!

…Matt’s Famous Quotes
https://www.idrlabs.com/quotes/matt-mullenweg.php

…The hall of shame via Automattic:
transparency.automattic.com/tag/hall-of-shame/

Amber’s Plugin

Weather Effect – Christmas, Santa, Snow Falling, Snowflake Effect

https://wordpress.org/plugins/weather-effect/

The Lowdown:

So I went looking high and low for a Halloween plugin – and this is the best option I was able to find that had been updated less then 12 months ago – even the specialty Halloween countdowns I saw were updated 12 months, 3 years, 6 years ago.

Loads of plugins for Christmas, and other holidays – but really nothing for Halloween. I guess I am one of the last hold outs for thinking Halloween is the coolest time of year.

Ah well – at least these guys are all updated and doing well! And they have A LOT of options! You can find it just by putting ‘Halloween’ into your search bar for adding new plugins, and it will be one of the first ones there. It was the very first one for me.

For Halloween they have Ghosts, Bats, Moon, Pumpkin, Web, and Witch. You can choose one or all of these, and THEN you get to choose the following options with slider bars that go from 0 on up:

Minimum Fall Size On Page
Maximum Fall Size On Page
Falls On Page
Falls Speed On Page

The ‘Preview’ button only seems to work after you have saved the choices you made, though it is useful for figuring out what you really want.

Everything falls like snow. There does not appear to be an option for anything else, although they did a great job making sure this does not slow down your site while going.

The plugin does have more options and more personalization capabilities, although you will have to get the pro version for that. In the free version they give you just enough to help your site look well decorated with the appropriately themed snow for all the holidays – and even seasons! You get the following decorative snow options:
Christmas, Winter, Autumn, Spring, Summer, Rain, Halloween, Thanks Giving Day, Valentine, and New Years.

Not too shabby for the free version, and the pro offers even more!

Considering that they appear to be one of the last hanger-on’s for Halloween, I applaud and thank them.

Worth checking out!

Rating: 5 Dragon

Earn yourself a Producership Credit!

There are a lot of ways that you as our Producers can utilize us as your tool to help yourself out, and help us at the same time – get a producership credit, do an interview, donate some time to get your name up here, all kinds of things! You can look further into the Producership credits options by going to our site wppluginsatoz.com and clicking on Time, Talent, or Treasure in our main menu.

Miscellaneous Announcements from all:

Have an announcement like a meetup, or to announce you’ll be on stage at a WordCamp? Let us know and we will add it here and help get your news out to the world!

WordCamp Nairobi – November 1-2

WordCamp Sydney – November 2-3

Rome Core Days – November 8-9

WordCamp Larissa – November 9-10

WordCamp Sevilla – November 9-10

To see the entire list you can follow the link here in the show notes, then click on ‘More WordCamps’ right below the list of the next 5. https://central.wordcamp.org/

If you are interested in finding a WordPress Meetup somewhere around the world you can go check out the places here: https://www.meetup.com/pro/wordpress/

Keep checking back every week to find out what else is going on!

And remember, the show notes found at wppluginsatoz.com have a whole lot of extra information to grab up that we don’t read on air so be sure to check them out!

How to reach us:

Feel like sending us something through the snail mail system? You can do that thanks to our brick and mortar address that we provide for you!
You can also reach us the more common way of the internets – have both of our internets available down below for ya!

WP Plugins A to Z
C/O John Overall 
20-754 E Fairview Rd. 
Victoria, BC  V9A 5T9  
Canada

John:

• My website:http://www.johnoverall.com/
• WordPress Emergency Support:http://wppro.ca/wpemergency
• email:john@wppro.ca

Amber:

• email: amber@wppro.ca

Today’s Plugins we covered were:

John’s Plugin:

Countdown Timer Ultimate by WP OnlineSupport, Essential Plugin

• Makes your product more desirable among your customers
• Offers complete WordPress countdown timer management system
• Works with Gutenberg Shortcode block

Rating: 5 Dragons

Amber’s Plugin: 

Weather Effect – Christmas, Santa, Snow Falling, Snowflake Effect by A WP Life

• Decorate your site for any season and most holidays
• Easy to use
• Plays well with others and doesn’t slow your site down

Rating: 5 Dragon

Q & A Time with Amber – Catch this info on our YouTube Channel

If you have questions you would like to have asked on the show, send them in to me atAmber@WPPro.ca – we may never stump my dad, but we can get some good conversation out of him at least!

• What signs does one look for in their site to see if they have been infected with something or other?

• How can you tell if your site itself is infected?

Questions asked after closing credits:

• Those drive by downloads that do still happen – do those tend to be sites made for that purpose, or are they old sites that people have forgotten and thus were taken over to become this tool do you think?

• How can you make sure you don’t fall for a drive by download kind of site?