Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
The WP Minute brings you news about WordPress in under 5 minutes -- every week! Follow The WP Minute for the WordPress headlines before you get lost in the headlines. Hosted by Matt Medeiros, host of The Matt Report podcast.
Eric Karkovack: Hi everyone, and welcome
to another episode of the WP Minute.
I'm your host, Eric Karkovac.
Today, we'll discuss the beauty of
quote unquote boring WordPress features.
You know, the ones that don't receive much
attention but still improve the software.
We'll look at how such features
benefit WordPress professionals,
and why we'll likely see more
of them to come in the future.
Enjoy!
Why boring features benefit
WordPress professionals.
As consumers, we are trained to
crave what's new and improved.
It's all about that massive
feature launch or the illusion
of getting more for your money.
I can understand the appeal.
Having the latest and greatest
product gives us bragging rights,
and maybe more productivity.
That's why a new iPhone
comes out every few months.
Who wouldn't want that?
Well, bigger isn't always better.
I believe that theory applies
to the evolution of WordPress.
Big changes can be clumsy
and require us to adapt.
That can temporarily negate any
advantage we're supposedly gaining.
Think about the switch from the classic
editor to Gutenberg and WordPress 5.
0.
Everyone from users to developers
to product makers felt the impact.
You could cut the anxiety with a
chainsaw, not to mention that it
took years for many of us to adapt.
Things are great now, but still.
It does offer a renewed
appreciation for the smaller,
aka boring, improvements, though.
The little things that enhance
accessibility, performance,
security, and stability.
That's what professionals need.
They help us get more done
and provide peace of mind.
Let's discuss how these little things can
add up and why we may see them more often.
Small changes that quietly
make things better.
The big features tend to get
all the publicity when a new
version of WordPress ships.
However, it's often the small,
under the hood changes that
make the biggest difference.
The thing is, we don't always notice them.
One such change recently caught my eye.
It was announced that WordPress 6.
8 will encrypt user passwords via bcrypt.
The move promises to improve security
by making passwords harder to hack.
It's a great example of an important
feature that is anything but sexy.
This is even more impressive considering
how long the change has been in the works.
The original track ticket is from 2012.
This is a win for anyone
concerned about security.
Freelancers tired of cleaning
up hacked websites come to mind.
But you don't have to know that this
change exists in order to benefit from it.
It also shows that sometimes these
features get put on indefinite hold.
There may be technical reasons for that.
A lack of resources can also play a role.
However, it's probably not
exciting to the average user.
That may make it a lesser priority.
Nevertheless, those of us who
work with WordPress should
celebrate such improvements.
In this case, better security
makes our lives easier.
More of that, please.
A shift in contribution means
more polish for WordPress.
The Automatic vs.
WP Engine saga has greatly
impacted the WordPress landscape.
For example, Automatic has
reduced its contributor hours
to the WordPress project.
The side effect is that new versions
have been scaled back in scope.
Core contributor Jonathan Deroges
recently posted on the Make
WordPress blog that, quote, there
will likely be fewer features.
Ready to ship when compared to
other recent major releases.
As a result, WordPress 6.
8 will focus primarily on being
a polish and bug fix release.
Now, regardless of the reason
for the shift, let's look at this
as a glass half full scenario
for developers and power users.
A slowdown in new feature
development means some small
and potentially longstanding
issues will receive attention.
It's a chance to clean up WordPress
and make it leaner and more efficient.
We already have a security
benefit to cheer about.
Maybe we'll have a better
user experience as well.
The other hidden benefit is keeping
the status quo in our workflow.
New features are nice.
But there is always a learning curve.
We have to teach
ourselves and our clients.
A little break from this
cycle isn't such a bad thing.
Perhaps this means that boring
has entered the spotlight.
I won't complain.
Let's make the most popular
CMS the most stable one.
Shiny new gizmos are great.
WordPress will need them to
keep up with competitors.
But I hope that's not the primary
focus of every release moving forward.
We don't always need a
new toy to play with.
Setting the priorities for an
open source project the size
of WordPress can't be easy.
There are only so many
contributors and so much time.
Thus, aiming a bit lower
isn't just a relief for us.
It's also practical.
Focusing on the big ticket items means
too many small or behind the scenes
improvements get lost in the shuffle.
I hope WordPress 6.
8 sets a precedent for releases that
strengthen the software's foundation.
It could be a renaissance of refinement.
After all, stability is important
for the software's long term future.
It's something that the lucrative
enterprise market demands.
Dedicating a few releases toward
that end will boost their confidence.
Besides, tools like the block and
site editors have plenty of features.
You can expand their
capabilities via plugins.
A continued effort to squash
bugs and make them more user
friendly can only help the cause.
WordPress still has many advantages
over other systems, but a drop in
reliability could tighten the gap.
The solution may be to embrace the
boring stuff every now and then.
Thanks for listening to my
take on why boring is beautiful
when it comes to WordPress.
As a long time freelancer, boring
means I don't have to relearn how
to do a task or retrain my clients.
It also means improved stability.
All good things in my book.
I hope you enjoyed this week's
episode of the WP Minute.
Please check us out over at thewpminute.
com slash subscribe to receive
our newsletter, become a member,
find us on social media, and more.
And as always, we welcome your feedback.
Thanks for listening, and
we'll see you again soon.