Digest 130: SureContact Early Bird Access

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This week, we’re diving into Mary Hubbard’s “Big Picture” goals for the year, including a return to a three-release cadence and the ambitious roadmap to WordPress 7.0. We also explore a revealing study on hosting security, celebrate the return of WordPress Women’s Day in Dhaka, and preview a massive rollout of fresh features from Astra, Eventin, and FlyingPress. Whether you’re here for the latest AI experiments or a rare lifetime deal on SureContact, we’ve got everything you need to stay ahead.

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💡 WordPress Spotlight

• WordPress Project: Big Picture Goals for 2026
  Mary Hubbard has unveiled the 2026 roadmap, focusing on “Momentum.” Highlights include returning to three annual releases, launching WordPress 7.0 with real-time co-editing at WordCamp Asia, and introducing a standardized AI Abilities API. The plan also prioritizes revamping local meetups and launching a new Contributor Dashboard to track community impact. (Source)
• Dhaka WordPress Women’s Day Returns for 2026
  Mumtahina Faguni, an organizer for WordCamp Asia 2025 and 2026, has announced the return of WordPress Women’s Day in Dhaka. Following the success of the 2025 events in Dhaka and Sylhet, the 2026 vision aims to expand into more cities across Bangladesh to empower women within the WordPress ecosystem. (Source)
• WordPress Education Programs Get a New Home
  The WordPress Education team has moved its primary operations to a dedicated site, centralizing programs like Campus Connect and WordPress Credits. This new hub simplifies how students and educators access resources, fostering a more direct pipeline for the next generation of contributors to enter the ecosystem. (Source)
• What’s New in AI Experiments 0.2.0
  The latest AI Experiments update introduces a provider-agnostic interface, allowing developers to swap between different LLMs more easily. Key improvements focus on better prompt engineering for block-based content generation and refined error handling, ensuring a more stable foundation for upcoming AI features in core WordPress. (Source)
• WordPress 6.9.1 Release Schedule
  Following the successful launch of 6.9, the core team has fast-tracked the 6.9.1 maintenance release. This scheduled update focuses on resolving high-priority regressions and polishing the new Data Views interface. The timeline aims for a stable rollout within the next week to ensure a smooth transition for all users. (Source)
• Elementor One: The All-in-One Solution for Professionals
  Elementor has introduced “Elementor One,” a unified subscription designed to simplify the workflow for web creators. It combines premium hosting, the Pro builder, and advanced collaboration tools into a single package, offering a more cohesive experience for managing multiple client sites from one centralized dashboard. (Source)
• What’s New in Gutenberg 22.4 (January 2026)
  The latest Gutenberg update brings significant refinements to the Site Editor, including improved drag-and-drop interactions and expanded typography controls for global styles. Developers will also find new enhancements to the Interactivity API, making it easier to build high-performance, reactive blocks without complex external libraries. (Source)
• Scholarships Now Open for WordCamp Asia 2026
  The WordCamp Asia 2026 organizing team has officially opened applications for scholarships to help community members attend the Mumbai event. These grants are aimed at supporting contributors and attendees who face financial or geographical barriers, ensuring a more diverse and inclusive representation at the flagship Asian event. (Source)
• WordCamp Europe 2026: Call for Speakers Now Open
  WordCamp Europe 2026 has officially invited the community to submit speaker applications for the upcoming event in Poland. The organizers are looking for a diverse range of topics, from deep technical development and AI integration to community building and sustainable business growth within the WordPress ecosystem. (Source)
• LovedBy.ai: Humanizing AI Interactions
  LovedBy.ai has launched as a new platform focused on creating more empathetic and human-centric AI experiences. It aims to bridge the gap between cold automation and meaningful engagement, offering tools that prioritize emotional intelligence and personalized user journeys for brands looking to build deeper connections with their audiences. (Source)
• The Myth of Secure Hosting: Vulnerability Exploit Realities
  A recent study by Patchstack reveals that only 24% of vulnerability exploits are successfully blocked by hosting providers. This data dispels the “secure hosting” myth, emphasizing that site owners cannot rely solely on server-level protection and must prioritize application-level security and proactive plugin patching. (Source)
• Gutenberg Enhancement: Post Date Block Improvements
  Weston Ruter explores the latest refinements to the Post Date block, which now offers better handling for both “published” and “modified” timestamps. These updates provide creators with more granular control over how update history is displayed, improving transparency for readers and SEO value for frequently updated content. (Source)
• Duplicator Announces WP Media Cleanup Integration
  Duplicator has officially announced the acquisition and integration of WP Media Cleanup into its suite of site management tools. This move allows users to easily identify and remove unused media files during the migration or backup process, significantly reducing site bloat and optimizing storage efficiency. (Source)
• ThemeDev Celebrates 6th Birthday with Massive Discounts
  ThemeDev is celebrating its 6th anniversary by offering limited-time discounts of up to 72% across its entire product catalog. This milestone sale provides an excellent opportunity for developers to grab premium plugins and themes at a fraction of the cost to power their 2026 projects. (Source)
• Amazon S3 Integration: Scaling WordPress Media Performance
  Md. Golam Mostafa, CEO of ThemeDev, has shared a comprehensive guide on offloading WordPress media to Amazon S3. This strategy helps high-traffic sites and WooCommerce stores reduce server load and hosting costs by utilizing cloud object storage for faster, more reliable media delivery via S3 and IAM secure configurations. (Source)

✨ Fresh Features Rollout

1. Eventin v4.0.0: A Major Leap in Event Management
   Eventin has released its massive 4.0.0 update, featuring a complete architectural overhaul for better performance. Key highlights include a brand-new internal booking system, improved multi-tier ticket pricing, and deeper integration with popular calendar services, making it a more robust solution for complex event scheduling. (Source)
2. MailOptin Changelog: Enhanced Automation Rules
   The latest MailOptin update introduces advanced “Display Rules” that allow for more granular targeting based on user behavior and referral sources. This release also includes refined integrations with major email marketing service providers, ensuring more reliable lead capture and automated newsletter delivery for WordPress sites. (Source)
3. Bit Flows: Introducing Autonomous AI Agents
   Bit Flows has launched a groundbreaking “AI Agents” feature, allowing users to create automated workflows that can reason and execute tasks. These agents can handle complex multi-step processes across different apps, shifting automation from simple “if-this-then-that” logic to intelligent, context-aware site management. (Source)
4. FluentCart v1.3.8: Performance and UX Refinements
   FluentCart 1.3.8 focuses on checkout speed and administrative efficiency. This version introduces streamlined order management views and minor bug fixes for tax calculation logic, ensuring a smoother transaction experience for both store owners and customers in the growing headless commerce space. (Source)
5. Nexter Blocks: AI Integration and Code Snippets
   Nexter Blocks has officially introduced AI-powered content assistance, allowing users to generate text and layouts directly within the editor. Additionally, the update features a new Code Snippets manager, enabling developers to add custom CSS, JS, or PHP globally or on specific pages without external plugins. (Source)
6. Pattern Wrangler 2.3: Improved Category Management
   The release of Pattern Wrangler 2.3 brings a dedicated “Categories View” and significant improvements to how patterns are organized. Site builders can now manage, filter, and assign categories to custom patterns more intuitively, simplifying the workflow for large-scale block theme development. (Source)
7. WPForce Logout 3.0.0: Major Security Overhaul
   WPForce Logout 3.0.0 is here with a completely redesigned interface and enhanced session management. This major version allows admins to force logout users by role, specific ID, or globally with one click, providing a critical tool for security teams responding to potential account compromises. (Source)
8. FlyingPress: Advanced Image Optimization Suite
   FlyingPress has detailed a new approach to image optimization, focusing on “On-the-fly” processing and WebP/Avif conversion. The update emphasizes core web vitals by automating image resizing and lazy loading, ensuring that visual assets contribute to a lightning-fast user experience without manual configuration. (Source)
9. Astra v4.12.1: Customization and Styling Enhancements
   The latest Astra update focuses on fine-tuning the site-building experience with new customization options for headers and footers. It also includes critical styling fixes and compatibility updates for the latest WordPress core features, maintaining its status as one of the fastest and most flexible themes. (Source)
10. RioVizual 3.0.0: Next-Gen Data Visualization
    RioVizual 3.0.0 introduces a major interface redesign and expanded chart types for WordPress data. This version prioritizes performance for high-traffic sites, enabling interactive, mobile-responsive data visualizations that load faster while offering deeper customization options for professional reports. (Source)

🆕 Fresh Releases

• SureContact: Professional Contact Forms Made Simple
  SureContact is a new premium contact form solution designed for simplicity and high conversion. It features a modern drag-and-drop builder, pre-designed templates, and deep integration with popular marketing tools, providing a lightweight yet powerful alternative for those who need professional lead generation without the complexity of traditional form builders. (Source)
• Synced Pattern Popups by Matt Cromwell
  This innovative plugin leverages WordPress’s native Synced Patterns to serve as the content source for popups. By using “product thinking” instead of bloated builders, it ensures a single source of truth for your content and maintains a lightweight footprint, allowing site owners to trigger core-based patterns as interactive overlays easily. (Source)
• Copy Post Page ID: One-Click Utility
  Copy Post Page ID is a focused developer utility that adds a simple “Copy ID” button to the WordPress admin list tables. It eliminates the friction of hunting through URLs or edit screens to find specific IDs, making it an essential time-saver for developers and power users who frequently work with shortcodes or custom functions. (Source)

🗓️ Mark Your Calendar 

If you’re looking for opportunities to network and learn, check out these upcoming WordPress events and meetups:

• WordCamp Kolhapur (January 31, 2026)
• WordCamp Pune (February 08, 2026)
• WordPress DevDay (February 21, 2026)
• WordCamp Nice (March 06, 2026)
• WordCamp Madrid (March 06-07, 2026)
• WordCamp Mukono (March 13-14, 2026)
• WordCamp Asia (Mumbai, April 9 – 11, 2026)
• WordCamp Torino (May 08-09, 2026)
• WordCamp Portugal (May 15-16, 2026)
• WordCamp Europe (Poland, June 4-6, 2026)
• WordCamp US (Phoenix, 2026)

That’s a wrap for this week’s WPDigest! Stay tuned for more exciting WordPress updates next week.

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