WP Builds Newsletter #38 – WordPress 5.0 update delayed, multiple security concerns and do you earn enough?

This weeks WordPress news – Covering The Week Commencing 5th November 2018:

Interview – Matt Mullenweg… Why Gutenberg? And why now?
"We talk about Gutenberg, why Matt thinks that we need it, and why we need it now. We go on to chat about how it’s divided the WordPress community, especially from the perspective of users with accessibility needs. We finish with a discussion about how the community can reunite after this ‘schism’ and what Matt thinks of the recent ClassicPress fork of WordPress…"

Classic Editor Plugin May Be Included with 5.0 Updates, Support Window Set to End in 2021
"Gary Pendergast announced this morning that the Classic Editor plugin will be officially supported until December 31, 2021. The plugin eases the transition for sites where plugins or themes are not yet compatible with Gutenberg and gives users the opportunity to preserve their existing workflows…"

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Calls to Delay WordPress 5.0 Increase, Developers Cite Usability Concerns and Numerous Bugs in Gutenberg
"Developers and business owners are waiting anxiously in the wings, as Gutenberg is 11 days away from its debut in WordPress 5.0. There is still a chance that the release could be delayed to the secondary date (January 22, 2019), but the decision has not yet been announced…"

WordPress 5.0 Release Date Update to November 27
"The WordPress 5.0 release date has been pushed back to November 27. The previous schedule outlined the possibility of a slip date where the first target date could slip by up to eight days if necessary…"

Adding Aligned Images to Paragraphs in Gutenberg Is Not as Tough as I Thought
"Last week, I published an article that describes the process I went through in Gutenberg to try to add an aligned image to a paragraph block. I concluded that performing the task in the Classic Editor was easier than in Gutenberg. In response to the article, William Earnhardt compared the process and showed how it can be accomplished in two steps in Gutenberg…"

The Gutenberg Complexity Fallacy
"There was a post published on WP Tavern this morning about the difficulty of the simple task of placing a left or right aligned image in Gutenberg—something that seems trivial in the classic editor. I’m not trying to pick on Jeff for writing this post, but more wanted to address what seems like a common trend in complaints about the new editor. That the equivalent process in the classic editor was faster and required fewer steps. I think in most cases this isn’t true…"

Security Vulnerability In WooCommerce 3.4.5
"A flaw in how WordPress handles privilege assignments can be exploited to permit attackers to hijack WooCommerce websites. The issue was discovered by Simon Scannell, a security researcher from RIPS Technologies, who said in a blog post that the design flaw specifically impacts WooCommerce which has been downloaded over four million times…"

Erealitatea[.]net Hack Corrupts Websites with WP GDPR Compliance Plugin Vulnerability
"We have noticed a growing number of WordPress-based sites that have had their URL settings changed to hxxp://erealitatea[.]net. Further investigations show that the issue is related to a security vulnerability in the WP GDPR Compliance plugin for WordPress (with 100,000+ active installations)…"

Should you pay for WordPress security? 8 factors to consider
"Should you pay for WordPress security? That’s probably a question a lot of website owners ask themselves. After all, much of the allure of the WordPress platform is its price tag: zero. It’s one of its many benefits and probably among the main factors WordPress has become the most popular content management system in the world…"

New WordPress Security Email Course
"Recent statistics show that over 32% of website administrators across the web use WordPress. Unfortunately, the CMSs popularity comes at a price — attackers often seek out vulnerabilities to exploit and target unhardened WordPress sites. If a site is compromised, it often becomes the host of malicious malware or spam campaigns, harming your website’s reputation and visitors in the process…"

How to Create Client PDF Reports with WordPress Google Analytics
"Depending on whom you ask, you may hear that Google Analytics is either too overwhelming or doesn’t provide enough insight to actually be useful. Finding the elusive Goldilocks zone in WordPress Google Analytics and then delivering that data to your WordPress clients becomes a whole lot easier once you start using Google Analytics Dashboards…"

Nidhi Jain Is Awarded the Kim Parsell Travel Scholarship
"In 2015, the WordPress Foundation created a travel scholarship in memory of Kim Parsell. The scholarship covers travel expenses, lodging, and a ticket to the event. This year’s recipient is Nidhi Jain from Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. Jain is a volunteer organizer for WordCamp Udaipur, a WordPress developer, contributor, and a seasoned traveler…"

What’s New in WooCommerce 3.5: REST API v3 and improved email copy
"Since our last minor release in May, we’ve been working on a variety of improvements to WooCommerce: REST API v3, Improved copy for transactional emails…"

WordPress Developer Salary: The Average, Plus How to Increase Yours
"Salary might be a taboo subject to some people, but if you’re a WordPress developer, or are considering a career in WordPress development, knowing what people are earning is essential to maximizing your own earning power. So let’s talk about that secret – let’s talk about the average WordPress developer salary. That way, you’ll know exactly what you’re worth (and how you can earn more)…"

Soccer Formation Creator for WordPress
"There are plenty of informative football analysis websites and YouTube channels around these days. If you are passionate about soccer, you can always start your own site to cover your favorite teams. Plugins such as Soccer Formation VE can only help. This is a paid plugin with a drag & drop layout and customizable colors…!"

Non WordPress, but useful anyway…

Chrome 71 Targets Abusive Experiences – Publishers Given December Deadline
"Google’s Chrome blog has set a December 2018 deadline for publishers to take down abusive experiences. Google encourages publishers to use it’s Abusive Experiences Report tool to identify abusive experiences and take them down. Failure to do so will result in Chrome blocking all ads on those pages…"