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Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you happen to be hiding out there on the globe today! Coming to you LIVE from…
We’ve got a couple of great in-depth plugins to cover for you: WPProAtoZ ACF Membership Uploader – a frontend ACF uploader designed for paid membership websites, and CubeColour New Plugins – a plugin that brings back the ‘New’ tab option for your ‘add plugin’ dashboard area.
And of course we’ve also got some recent news in both the WordPress World and the Tech World in general with additional WordPress Tips!
Hopefully everyone out there is remembering to drink loads of water and enjoy some swimming!
A few reminders before we start the show today….
Reminders:
- Join us here in person every Monday at 12:00 pm Pacific Time to enjoy our show!
- Show notes are added to wppluginsatoz.com within 24 hours of the show airing; you can find them either on the home page, or in the Podcast Vaults!
- 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 just turn our show on really loudly. We will catch somebody’s attention!
If you stick around until the end, you will have a chance to hear some good questions – sometimes meant for the greenies, sometimes meant for the very experienced – and sometimes the questions are just completely random. Stick around and have a listen, might help! Or at least entertain!
(Don’t feel shy about sending in a message just to say hi! Send along suggestions, questions, recommendations, news, art – we always love to hear from our listeners!)
Let’s start the show with this weeks Featured Artist:
Artist:Â
Who is our artist today?!?
Today is…. Grok! Looks like they gave back his artistic & creativity skills.
We would love some new art from our Producers out there! If you are so inclined, you can send it into us at amber@wppro.ca or john@wppro.ca. 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 menu.
We can NEVER have too much art!
Breaking News in the WordPress World at large!!Â
If you have anything you think should be added please send it into me at amber@wppro.ca!
News this week:
WordPress Vulnerability Report from PatchStack
https://patchstack.com/database/ – These guys are great, keeping up with the info, they always have the latest info waiting there for you so you have what you need at your fingertips!
OptinMonster Plugin Hacked in CDN supply-chain attack
https://www.therepository.email/awesome-motive-cdn-breach-hits-1-2-million-sites-running-optinmonster – Awesome Motive’s OptinMonster, TrustPulse, and PushEngage plugins were compromised in a supply chain attack. The attacker exploited a known vulnerability in UpdraftPlus on the OptinMonster website and used it to tamper with JavaScript served from their CDN. If you’re running any of these plugins and had an admin logged in during the window, check your filesystem for rogue accounts or hidden plugins. OptinMonster has published detailed remediation steps in its disclosure – and you can get the link here in the show notes or by following the link to the article in the show notes.
Awesome Motive breach widens as Uncanny Automator confirms customer data theft, MonsterInsights users hit with phishing campaign
https://www.therepository.email/awesome-motive-breach-widens-as-uncanny-automator-confirms-customer-data-theft-monsterinsights-users-hit-with-phishing-campaign – The critical vulnerability disclosed on June 10 has now been linked to breaches across five Awesome Motive brands. Uncanny Owl, the company behind Uncanny Automator, a WordPress workflow automation plugin with around 50,000 active installations, has published a security incident notice on June 15. An attacker exploited a vulnerability in ‘third-arty software’ on automatorplugin.com on June 12, gained infrastructure access, accessed customer personal data, and distributed a backdoored plugin build.
CERN moves the birthplace of the web to WordPress
https://www.therepository.email/cern-moves-the-birthplace-of-the-web-to-wordpress – CERN has migrated its main flagship site home.cern to WordPress. They plan to run 580+ sites on it and open-source their migration tools.
WordPress.org launches ‘Protect the Shire’ initiative, adds 24-hour cooldown for Plugin and Theme Auto-Updates
https://www.therepository.email/wordpress-org-launches-protect-the-shire – Every release across WordPress.org’s 78,000 plugins and themes now faces AI-powered review before auto-updates roll out – and a Wapuu named Gandalf is on the job. “For now, each new plugin release will wait up to 24 hours before being distributed through auto-updates. This will give everyone, including a new Wapuu we call Gandalf, a chance to review changes” Mullenweg wrote. This I think will be a good thing for plugins and themes.
WordPress 7.1 Roadmap focuses on collaboration, guidelines, and responsive styling with RTC still unresolved
https://www.therepository.email/wordpress-7-1-roadmap-focuses-on-collaboration-guidelines-and-responsive-styling-with-rtc-still-unresolved – Guidelines, responsive styling, and client-side media join a packed 7.1 roadmap, but how real-time collaboration shows up in core is still the biggest unresolved question. the feature was pulled from WordPress 7.0 in may after months of performance and infrastructure challenges, with the 7.0 RC3 announcement saying that it would be ‘an exciting focus area with a few strategic decisions remaining’. It seems that most fall into the camp of ‘not in the core please’, though many are intrigued by the idea. For a full read of this article follow the links in the show notes!
Developer traces 13-year backdoor campaign across 44 WordPress.org Plugins to a single operator
https://www.therepository.email/developer-traces-13-year-backdoor-campaign-across-44-wordpress-org-plugins-to-a-single-operator – Anchor hosting founder Austin Ginder has traced a 13-year old supply chain operation back to a single operator who used 19 WordPress.org accounts, multiple fake brands, and a dissolved Cyprus shell company to distribute backdoors across 44 plugins – several of them marketed as security tools. And the WordPress Plugins Team says the real numbers are higher still.
This all started when WP Beacon scanner fagged a routine plugin closure that didn’t look routine – the Plugins Team hadn’t simply closed a plugin called wp-advanced-math-captcha but had deleted a single compressed binary. Ginder decoded it in one line of Python. Out came a self=deleting PHP dropper that planted a 482-line backdoor into the WordPress root, phone home to register the infection, and erased the evidence. A captcha plugin with 6,000 active installs had been planting a remote-access tool on every site that ran it.
Any site owners running a plugin authored by SiteGuarding, SafetyBis, or any of the 17 burner accounts listed out should treat the site as compromised. Full campaign, all 44 plugins, the IOCs and cleanup instructions can be found here: https://wpbeacon.io/campaigns/siteguarding
The most unpredictable meteor shower of the year peaks this week. Here’s what to expect:
https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteor-showers/the-most-unpredictable-meteor-shower-of-the-year-peaks-next-week-heres-what-to-expect – The June Bootids — the most unpredictable meteor shower of the year — is peaking right now through June 27. It usually only produces a handful of meteors, but it’s famous for surprise outbursts. Some astronomers are hopeful this could be one of the good years, though nobody can say for sure.
If you have the opportunity between June 20 and June 27, be sure to make it out into a place away from city lights and throw your head back and stare at the stars for a while!
(Go visit WP Shout Comics OR Word Chronicles OR MonkeyUser.com for a fantastic brain break – my favourite today is this one!)
Some Extras – check out our Facebook or Twitter!
U.S. Court orders WP Engine to reveal strategy deck sentence, finds Mullenweg was “evasive” in deposition https://www.therepository.email/us-court-orders-wp-engine-to-reveal-strategy-deck-sentence-finds-mullenweg-was-evasive-in-deposition
WordCamp Europe draws 2,458 to Krakow, bouncing back from basal dip as VERN goes live on WordPress https://www.therepository.email/wordcamp-europe-draws-2458-to-krakow-bouncing-back-from-basel-dip-as-cern-goes-live-on-wordpress
WordPress Plugins Team adds three reviewers, re-opens applications as submissions hit new records
https://www.therepository.email/wordpress-plugins-team-adds-three-reviewers-re-opens-applications-as-submissions-hit-new-records
Anne McCarthy named WordPress 7.1 release lead
https://www.therepository.email/anne-mccarthy-named-wordpress-7-1-release-lead
WordPress.org marketing director open sources AI agent skills and brand writing guide powering project’s social media
https://www.therepository.email/garofalo-details-how-ai-writes-wordpress-social-content-open-sources-the-toolkit
Rogue’s Corner News and Extras
Be sure to go and check out the new and unique plugins now available from WPProAtoz.com!
Rogues Corner & Tip of the day
WordPress and Related News
This Shows Featured Promotion
I will be promoting a premium plugin I’d like to help get others to buy it.
This week the Feature is:
Conversion Bridge
https://conversionbridgewp.com/
Conversion Bridge aims to be a one-stop solution, no matter which platforms or plugins your site is using, to help WordPress site owners and professionals get website analytics onto their site and track every important metric they need – quickly, without code or headaches.
V for V for the show
If you get any value out of this show then donate that value back to the show. You can do so through time, talent, or treasure – or all 3!! – through our website wppluginsatoz.com.
Click on the ‘Treasure Donations’ link on the left-hand menu, or on the ‘Time, or Talent‘ pages to find out more!
Note to our listeners out there using Overcast you are the winners for the most downloads.
Tip of The Day:
Talk about us WPProAtoZ.com as an agency and what we do
Follow WP Plugins A-Z on X @wppluginsatoz and Facebook WordPressPluginsA2Z
https://petrackers.com/
Pet Peeve This Week:
When I get useless inquires when, if they had visited the site, there are better ways to contact me
Obvious spam email, use the proper connections.
Hi John Overall Team,
I recently visited your website and noticed that you’ve published several blog posts related to custom field management plugins. I genuinely enjoyed reading them — the content is well-structured, informative, and highly valuable for the WordPress community.
I’d like to introduce ECM Easy Content Manager, a WordPress plugin that helps users organize and manage posts, pages, categories, and other content more efficiently. For websites with growing amounts of content, ECM makes content management faster and more streamlined.
I believe there could be a good collaboration opportunity between your audiences.
We’d love to explore a collaboration opportunity that may include:
• Link exchange
• Brand mentions in relevant editorial content
• Guest post contributions
If you’re open to exploring this, I’d be happy to share more details.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Upcoming Interviews and Available times:
Reminder that we have more interviews coming up in the coming weeks with more developers and community members https://wppluginsatoz.com/book-an-interview-on-wp-plugins-a-to-z-podcast/
Upcoming Interviews: Marcin Dudek July 13 and Marcus Burnette on July 27
Available interview dates:  Aug 10th & 24th 2026.
Other Shows and places to get WP Info & Training
The WP Builds Podcast
https://wpbuilds.com/
WP Roads
https://www.youtube.com/@wproads
WP-Tonic
https://www.wp-tonic.com/podcast-episodes/
Worlds Worst Web Developer
https://www.youtube.com/@WorldsWorstWebDeveloper
WP Mayor
https://www.youtube.com/@WPMayor
wp Minute
https://thewpminute.com/
The WP Week newsletter
https://wp-content.co/newsletter/archive/270/
Kitchensink WP
https://kitchensinkwp.com/
Dragon Rating Time with John!
John’s Plugin
WPProAtoZ ACF Membership Uploader
https://github.com/Ahkonsu/wpproatoz-acf-membership-uploader
The Lowdown:
Frontend ACF uploader designed for paid membership websites. One entry per user with dynamic tier limits based on Paid Memberships Pro.
Features
- One Entry Per User — Automatically creates or loads the member’s single tracker entry
- Dynamic Tier Limits — Automatically adjusts max images (5 / 10 / etc.) and video size based on PMPro membership level
- ACF Pro Powered — Uses your existing Gallery + File fields
- PMPro Account Integration — Automatically adds “My PE Tracker” section to the membership account page
- Spam Protection — reCAPTCHA v3 + honeypot
- Admin Moderation — Submissions start as drafts (configurable)
- Shortcode —
[pe_tracker_uploader] - Lightweight & Developer Friendly — Built to be extended
Requirements
- WordPress 6.0+
- Advanced Custom Fields Pro
- Paid Memberships Pro (recommended for tiers)
- Stripe or PayPal gateways (via PMPro)
See it in action here https://petrackers.com/
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
My tip to you today…
We all know that many companies are continuously ‘bettering their customer service’ – and in turn ‘betting your customer experience’ – and we all know that this rarely turns out the way that they dreamed it would.
Although, sometimes it does indeed work!
So my tip to you today, is to remember not to judge the update by the name. Just because it is v.5.3, does not mean that it will go the way of DnD where v.1-3 will always be the best. Sometimes the newest and latest version is indeed pretty amazing – you just gotta give it a chance!
Change can be hard, but sometimes it is exactly what is needed to ACTUALLY better your customer experience.
Dragon Rating Time with Amber!
Amber’s Plugin
Cubecolour New Plugins
https://wordpress.org/plugins/cubecolour-new-plugins/
The Lowdown:
This is a plugin I have been using for a very long time, and I feel like it is time to bring this back to the show for a renewal on the review of it, bring it forward in everyone’s minds.
What this plugin does is add two new tabs called ‘New’ and “Beta Testing”, which enable you to explore and install the plugins most recently added to the WordPress.org plugin directory.
Once you install and activate this, you will see on the plugin ‘add plugin’ dashboard area up at the top now has a new order:
New, Featured, popular, Recommended, Favorites, Beta Testing, Search Plugins.
The new choice is one of the ways I have managed to bring you so many brand new and fresh out of the box plugins over the years! and the Beta Testing allows you to get right into the cutting edge aspect of plugins.
This plugin is lightweight, plays well with others, and is absolutely free!
I highly recommend you check this out, pass them some coffee money if you get a chance – and be sure if you reach out to them to let them know we sent you in their direction!
Rating: 5 Dragon
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!
WordPress Campus Connect Dhaka – May 10-August 31
WordCamp Rajshahi 2026 – July 2-3
WordCamp Mannheim 2026 – July 3-4
WordCamp Masaka – July 4
WordCamp US 2026 – August 16-19
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!
V for V for the show
If this show saves you time, headaches, or helps level up your WordPress game, or if we have showcased a plugin you never knew you needed that wound up saving you hours of time – go out and plug people in!
Consider giving back through our V4V model: Time, Talent, or Treasure (or all three!). Head over to our site wppluginsatoz.com.
Click on the ‘Treasure Donations’ link on the left-hand menu, or on the ‘Time, or Talent‘ pages to find out more!
This show is supported by the V4V plan which means Time, Talent or Treasure.
How to Support the Show
Submit your Art work
Submit your art work or the best AI slop you can create submit it here https://wppluginsatoz.com/submit-plugin-review/
Donate Cash to the show this is our favourite way to get support
https://wppluginsatoz.com/donate-2/
Book yourself an interview, https://wppluginsatoz.com/book-an-interview-on-wp-plugins-a-to-z-podcast/
Get us to make your announcement for you, let the world know you have something to say or a company worth checking out!
Have a look through our site wppluginsatoz.com. Check out the Time, Talent and Treasure pages.
Today’s Plugins we covered were:
John’s Plugin:
WPProAtoZ ACF Membership Uploader by WPPro AtoZ
- ACF Pro Powered — Uses your existing Gallery + File fields
- One Entry Per User — Automatically creates or loads the member’s single tracker entry
- Admin Moderation — Submissions start as drafts (configurable)
Rating:Â 5 Dragons
Amber’s Plugin:
CubeColour New Plugins By cubecolour
- Lightweight and works well
- Adds in ‘New’ and ‘Beta Testing’ to your ‘add plugin’ dashboard
- Plays well with others
Rating: 5 Dragons
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!
Brick & Mortar Address
WP Plugins A to Z
C/O John OverallÂ
306 – 855 Ellery Rd.Â
Victoria, BCÂ V9A 6X6Â
Canada
Internets Addresses
John:
- My website:http://www.johnoverall.com/
- WordPress Emergency Support:http://wppro.ca/wpemergency
- email:john@wppro.ca
Amber:
- email:Â amber@wppro.ca
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 – !
- How do you go about testing to see if a new plugin will play nicely with your other plugins and existing setup?
- What do you do when a plugin doesn’t play nicely? Do you systematically turn off other plugins one by one to isolate the conflict, or do you usually just disable the new one and look for an alternative?
Questions asked after closing credits
- How do you go about getting the most out of a new plugin? Do you experiment a lot on your own, reach out to the developer with questions, or do a bit of both?
- Can you think of something that plugin developers across the board, no matter where they specialize, could do to help make life a little easier?
