Many product updates this week, like for Elementor, FluentCommunity, GenerateBlocks, Neve Theme, Advanced Themer, and more. From the community – Automattic and Festinger Vault settled the legal case, A2 Hosting acquired, and Automattic invests in another social app.
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What’s Buzzing in WordPress 💖
- Kalium Exit ThemeForest… Kalium Theme has transitioned from being sold on ThemeForest to now on their own website. Moving forward, Kalium Theme version 4 will only be sold and supported only through their own website.
- Comment Management Addon… WSForm has released a new Comment Management addon for Pro users, which allows you to display a custom form for adding comments to posts on your WordPress website.
- QuickLink Pro… Johnathon Williams has released his first plugin for the Block Editor – QuickLink Pro, which promises to be an intelligent link management solution. It adds external links to the standard link dialog in the block editor for easy linking.
- ScreenGlow… the team at DesignForWP has released ScreenGlow Image Editor that allows you to create mockups, add frames, effects, backgrounds, and annotate screenshots – all from Media Library or editor on your WordPress websites.
Builder Updates: Elementor, GenerateBlocks, Bricksforge
Elementor… the 3.27v brings row and column span controls for Grid Containers, support for YouTube Shorts in the Video widget, local loading for Google Fonts, and AI Motion Effects.
GenerateBlocks… all new 2.0v is coming this week with big updates to query block and dynamic tags. RC1 (Release Candidate 1) was released on January 28, 2025, and the final release will be available on February 4, 2025.
Bricksforge… 3.0v for Bricks Builder users brings many updates, like file field in Pro Forms, a new node-based editor for creating and managing workflows, conditionally show or skip form steps, and completely redesign Bricksforge panel.
Membership & LMS: Fluent, PMP Pro, Academy LMS
FluentCommunity… 1.1.20v has added the much requested option for automatic Buddyboss migration to FluentCommunity. It will automatically migrate members, groups (to spaces), posts, comments and reactions associated with posts.
Paid Memberships Pro… v3.4 RC 1 (Release Candidate) is now available with changes in localization support as PMP Pro and addons will pull translations from translate.strangerstudios.com domain. Also, a new Membership Account Message setting allows site owners to display level-specific messages to members.
Academy LMS… the Pro 2.4.0v has added a course preview addon, FSE theme integration, password protection, and scheduled dates for courses. The free version 2.4.1v has added a sticky top bar for admin interface.
Extended WordPress Buzz 🔥
- Festinger Vault Settlement… Festinger Vault and Automattic were in a legal battle over trademarks and more. Both parties have agreed to settle and sort out. Martin shared, “We will not disclose any further details about the settlement, as we are committed to respecting the confidentiality of all related matters”.
- Sponsor Process Changes… for WordCamp sponsorships, the process now focuses on strictly enforcing WordPress trademark and GPL compliance. Also, “all sponsorships need to be approved by Matt Mullenweg and Mary Hubbard from project leadership”.
- Hosting Acquisition… a popular hosting website hosting brand, A2 Hosting, has been acquired by World Host Group (WHG), which has also acquired a few other hosting brands. Like ColombiaHosting, LuxHosting, WebHostPython, Doteasy, Wingu Networks, and HostingRaja.
- Automattic Invest… Openvibe, an app that supports multiple open social networks like Bluesky, Mastodon, Nostr, and Threads – received an investment of $800,000 in a round led by Czech Founders VC, which includes backing from WordPress .com and Tumblr parent company, Automattic.
- WP Milestones… relatively new form solution for WordPress, SureForms has surpassed 50,000 active users milestone in just 3 months – impressive!
Quick Bits 👍
- LatePoint calendar booking plugin free version is now available.
- Preview new Lawyer2 Theme by Themify for law firms websites.
- WPForms’s new Twilio addon to get SMS for form submissions.
- ACPT 2.0.19v fields integrate with WP Grid Builder for display.
- Fastest WP Hosts with no caching, get report (paid) by WPShout.
- Build eCom WP site with Voice & AI (Links X) by James LePage.
- Automattic Case Study: 7,724% ROI with Blaze for WordPress.
- From WP People
- Matt Medeiros expands TheWPMinute with all new CMSMinute.
- Hendrik Luehrsen elaborated on crisis of Themes in WordPress.
- Morgan Hvidt has launched (Links X) new writing app CopyJump.
- Jeff Starr explain three types of plugins for WordPress websites.
- Rich Tabor experiments building text editor for writing only.
- Interview & Events
- ‘$500 Million /year’ Matt in interview with Sam Parr & Shaan Puri.
- LoopConf for WordPress folks coming to London, Sep 25, 2025.
- Mary Hubbard, WP Director, speaker at Techarena 2025, Feb 20.
Themes: New Block Theme + Neve Theme Update
New Block Theme… Andrei Chira has released Simplenet WordPress block theme. It features full compatibility with the Block Editor, clean design suitable for various types of websites, and over 18 color styles based on Tailwind CSS.
Neve Theme… codenamed ‘Sarmizegetusa’, Neve Theme v4.0.0 and Neve Pro v3.0.0 update with new features (Links X) like redesigned theme dashboard with a modern interface, enhanced blog design, and new streamlined on-boarding experience.
Updates: Advanced Themer & Posts Table Pro
Advanced Themer… 3.0v brings over 72 changes, including 15 new features like a new way to drag and drop your templates inside your pages, AI-powered SuperPowerCSS, and a brand-new color variable picker.
Posts Table Pro… from the Barn2 Plugins, 3.3.0v has added pre built design templates, combine multiple columns into a single column, set sticky columns headings, and the option to hide the header row.
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