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Issue #10
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Brought to you by Kinsta.
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This week in WordPress

Democratizing generosity

"So proud of all the GOOD @GiveWP does. We learned (via PayPal and Stripe shared data) that GiveWP users raised over $100M in donations in 2019," tweets Matt Cromwell, Partner and COO at Impress, makers of the online donation and fundraising plugin GiveWP.

WPTavern's Justin Tadlock has the details in GiveWP Plugin Users Raised Over $100 Million in Donations in 2019. Impress launched GiveWP in 2015 to "democratize generosity" by providing non-profits and other causes the ability to launch campaigns on their own websites without having to use crowd funding sites, which can charge hefty fees. The plugin now has over 70,000 active installations. In 2018, users raised $88 million, and $41 million in 2017.

Matt tells WP Tavern the 20-strong team behind the plugin is currently working on building out a new fundraising SaaS, which will be launched in 2020 and open up the plugin's capabilities to users outside of WordPress. "If the team manages to launch a successful SaaS product on the GiveWP platform, this year's $106 million in fundraising could pale in comparison to 2020's numbers and beyond," writes Justin.

A new chapter for Kinsta's outgoing CMO

Brian Jackson has stepped down as Kinsta's Chief Marketing Officer. After three years helping to build the hosting company's profile, not to mention its incredible archive of blog posts and solid position in SERPs, he says it's time to Farewell to Kinsta. He plans to focus on his health and personal projects, including his blog woorkup and plugins Perfmatters and WP Coupons.
"Long story short, what I didn't realize was the toll all of those late nights hustling would have on me health-wise. I would call myself a workaholic, and my self-destructing nature, unfortunately, got the best of me. I've had significant health issues before in my life, and I know how bad things can get. Therefore I want to make sure I never get to that point again," writes Brian.
"Sounds like it's the right thing to do Brian. Health should always come first. Looking forward to great articles on Woorkup. πŸ‘" tweets blogger and marketer Kevin Muldoon, while Richard Lazazzera, founder of A Better Lemonade Stand tweets, "Thanks for all the incredible content you put out Brian. You made Wordpress and many technical aspects of hosting, managing and speeding up a website significantly easier to understand. Very grateful. Congrats and good luck on your next step!"

WordPress security vulnerability

Sucuri is warning WordPress users of a malicious JavaScript injection, which has so far infected over 2,000 websites since the security company started tracking the infection. Luke Leal, a Malware Researcher at Sucuri, writes in Malicious JavaScript Used in WP Site/Home URL Redirects that the company found the infection in a WordPress index.php theme file on a compromised website. What it does is redirect site visitors to a survey-for-gifts scam website, then begins a chained series of redirects involving malicious domains.

"We encourage website owners to disable the modification of primary folders block hackers from inserting malicious files or includes as part of WordPress security hardening and security best practices," writes Luke.

Metorik rise

"If you are interested in SaaS products, this is a must-listen show," writes the team at the Doo the Woo podcast about their WooCommerce Talk with Bryce Adams from Metorik. Bryce shares his story, how he left Automattic and started his own SaaS business, providing powerful reports and email automation for WooCommerce. Bryce shares his insights into why he took the SaaS route and what he has learned.
Bryce lives in Melbourne, Australia, which has been impacted by the smoke from the devastating bushfires on the east coast of the country. At the end of the podcast, he shares some fantastic organizations that are helping to support people and animals affected by the fires:

- WIRES
- Victorian Bushfire Appeal
- NSW Rural Fire Service
- Port Macquarie Koala Hospital.
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Meanwhile, WP Engine employees around the world have this past week raised more than $18,000 for the Australian Red Cross. Australia and New Zealand Country Manager Mark Randall shares all the details in Fighting the Australian Bushfires with an Open Heart.
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