WP Builds Newsletter #20 – WordPress 4.9.7 & 4.9.8 plus a spaceship going to the sun

This weeks WordPress news – Covering The Week Commencing 2nd July 2018:

WordPress 4.9.7 Security and Maintenance Release
“WordPress 4.9.7 is now available. This is a security and maintenance release for all versions since WordPress 3.7. We strongly encourage you to update your sites immediately…”

Details of an Additional File Deletion Vulnerability – Patched in WordPress 4.9.7
“Today WordPress released version 4.9.7, a security release which addresses two separate arbitrary file deletion vulnerabilities requiring Author privileges. Some details can be found on the WordPress.org blog. The first arbitrary file deletion vulnerability was disclosed June 26, 2018 on the RIPS Tech blog with no official patch to WordPress in place. We released a firewall rule the same day to protect Wordfence users from attacks against this vulnerability…”

WordCamp Incubator Program 2018 to Host Events in Montevideo, Uruguay and Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
“The WordCamp Incubator Program has selected Montevideo, Uruguay and Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia to host WordCamps in 2018. The program provides a jump start for new WordPress communities where meetups have not yet been well-established. Montevideo and Kota Kinabalu were selected from a short list of 14 communities that had been whittled down from 104 applications for the program…”

What does the WordPress Community think of the Gutenberg Editor – a Review Roundup
“Set to be included in WordPress 5.0, the new editor has created a ripples through the WordPress community. No wonder since it will replace one of the most central aspects of the WordPress back end and overhaul central ways of how the CMS works. Gutenberg has been available as a plugin for about year now and at the time of this writing has reached version 3.0. A lot has changed since the first release and many people have taken the editor for a spin during that time. Did they like what they saw? We are about to find out…”

Just Write: A Client-Side React App for Writing and Editing WordPress Posts
“WordPress developer Jason Bobich has created an open source client-side React app called Just Write that provides a decoupled editing experience for WordPress. Bobich said he built the app in 10 days to explore the possibilities of React and the WP REST API…”

WordPress 4.9.8 to Introduce “Try Gutenberg” Callout
“WordPress 4.9.8 is targeted for July 31, 2018, with a beta as early as July 17. The release will focus on introducing the “Try Gutenberg” callout and adding privacy fixes and enhancements. The ticket proposing the callout was opened a year ago and was planned to be included in WordPress 4.9.5 but was eventually pulled before the release in favor of allowing Gutenberg contributors to iron out a few important issues…”

Elementor Page Builder for WordPress
“The new version of Elementor (Free and Pro) introduces several important UI improvements, that are sure to speed up your entire workflow. Copy Style, Copy Paste Elements, Collapsible Category Panel and many other improvements are waiting for every Elementor user to explore…”

Non WordPress, but useful anyway…

The NASA spacecraft that will journey to the Sun just got its super deluxe heat shield
“In August, NASA will launch a new interplanetary spacecraft to “touch” the Sun — and the vehicle just got its super durable heat shield for the trip. At the end of June, engineers installed the protective shield on the craft, dubbed the Parker Solar Probe, in Florida, where it’s currently being prepped for launch. The heat shield will keep the probe relatively cool as it encounters blistering temperatures near our Solar System’s star…”

Elon Musk’s Thailand cave rescue would use a ‘kid-size’ submarine
“Elon Musk is quickly solidifying his offer to help rescue a boys’ soccer team trapped in a Thailand cave, and in just the way you would expect from a technology entrepreneur. He has revealed that the “primary path” for his attempt will involve a “kid-size submarine” that uses the liquid oxygen transfer tube of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as its hull. He added that it be “extremely robust” and would support many as four air tanks, with four handles that could be used as hitching points for ropes and cables…”