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Issue #4
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This week in WordPress

Black Friday / Cyber Monday doesn't have to be about discounts

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Happy Thanksgiving to our American subscribers! Whether you live in the United States or elsewhere around the world, everyone’s been waiting for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. So let’s count down the roundups.

"KABOOM! We have reached 200+ WordPress Black Friday & Cyber
Monday Deals," tweets WP Pluginsify linking to this year’s biggest round up: 200+ Best WordPress Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deals for 2019. A ways behind, WP Beginner tweets: "We have over 120+ deals in the article on the top WordPress plugins, themes, hosting, and other tools / services," and links to 2019 WordPress Black Friday / Cyber Monday Deals (Huge Savings).

WP Lift follows up previous years' Black Friday lists with 70+ WordPress Black Friday And Cyber Monday 2019 Deals And Coupons while WP Buffs tweets, "Some of the best #WordPress deals for #BlackFriday #CyberMonday from @wpmayor!" and links to 60+ 2019 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals for WordPress.

WP Tavern has published the aptly titled WordPress Black Friday Sales Roundup. "Didn't realize @wptavern did Black Friday posts. Is this new also?" tweets André Jutras from Rough Pixels, already referring to the site’s redesign (more on that later). Meanwhile, CodeInWP has taken a different approach this year, letting developers do all the work in the comments of 15+ of the Best WordPress Black Friday Deals in 2019.

There are plenty more roundups, but as MailPoet tweets: "Black Friday / Cyber Monday doesn't have to be about discounts," linking to 6 Anti-Black Friday Tips for Small Businesses.

Giving back

"Yay! Big news out now: #DoSummitGood is happening on #GivingTuesday! 🎉 Check out the program, you’re gonna be as excited as I am! 😀 And of course, please spread the news! 🤗" tweets Carole Olinger from WP&UP, linking to #DoSummitGood. The online event set for Giving Tuesday will feature speakers from various "for good" WordPress organizations. Over nine sessions, 13 speakers will talk about their areas of expertise.
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Throughout the event, participants will be encouraged to make a donation, with all money raised to be distributed to the various non-profits taking part in the event. "This is the first #DoSummitGood and there has already been a discussion about making this an annual event for Giving Tuesday," Dan Maby, CEO and a Trustee of WP&UP, tells WP Tavern in WP&UP to Hold #DoSummitGood Online Event for Giving Tuesday.

Is open source declining?

"I’ve been looking *deeply* at W3Techs market share numbers for CMSs, looking beyond just #WordPress. See WooCommerce's astonishing growth, analysis on open source vs closed source CMSs and more!" tweets Joost de Valk from Yoast, linking to CMS market share: November 2019 analysis. Top takeaways: WooCommerce is almost three times as big as Shopify and outside of WordPress, all major open source CMSs are declining.

"This is disappointing. I know all of us depend on WordPress for income but, in general, reading this made me sad. It's also why the 'just fork it' narrative is disingenuous, at best. Open source is suffering and things other-than-WordPress need a reboot," tweets Philip Arthur Moore from We Cobble. "A fair share of my shopping experience this year has been 'oh this is using Shopify too now'. I felt like I encountered way more sites based on it than on Woo, but of course my personal sample is small," adds Rémy Perona, lead developer at WP Rocket.

Five for the Future

Every month, WebDevStudios dedicates a full workday to Five for the Future and invites others in the WordPress community to donate their time, too. It’s something the agency has been committed to since 2014. Want to join in? Their next contributor day is 29 November. "Contribute to WordPress AND enter to win a fresh WDS hat! It's a win win! 😎 #5ftf" tweets CEO Brad Williams.

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In other news...

  • - "WP Tavern’s New Design: No More Wood Grain 😮" tweets Brian Jackson from Kinsta. He links to Justin Tadlock’s write-up WP Tavern’s New Design: No More Wood Grain. "WPdentistoffice.com - this design reminds me of when an old dive bar gets replaced with a brand new bar that lacks all the character that actually brings people to it. Or a bar being replaced with a clean dental office. It's a nice layout but lacks character," tweets Jason Tucker from WPwatercooler. "🍹🍸🍺🍻🍺🍻🍺🧉🍾🍹🍸🥃🥂🍷 No worries! Just sprinkle many of these beautiful drink icons around and it will be fine :)” replies developer David Bell from CapeWP.
  • - bbPress 2.6.2 is out! It fixes small bugs that were reported by community members in the support forums.
  • - "Do you have #Jetpack installed on your #wordpress website? A vulnerability has been found and patched in this plugin so make sure you update your website ASAP,” tweets Julia McGinn from Epix Media. She links to iThemes' post WordPress Vulnerability Roundup: November 2019, Part 2.
  • - Interested in how Gutenberg can be use for enterprise? "Did you miss the Gutenberg for Enterprise webinar with @BigBite? Never fear - you can (re)watch the recording on your own time. You'll learn how content heavyweights like @newscorp and @OisforOctopus use custom blocks to accelerate content production," tweets WordPress VIP, linking to Webinar recording: Gutenberg for enterprise.
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