Will The Vibes Be Good? Only Time Will Telex

Stick around ‘til the end to see a bunch of guys having no fun at all. Seriously. Not even a bit.

In today’s edition:

• Telex turns your rambling ideas into Gutenberg blocks. Sometimes magically, sometimes… not.
• Open Call for Web Heroes: WP Accessibility Day needs you to save the internet, one alt-text at a time.
• Who’s WP-Award-worthy, in your opinion? Nominate now or forever hold your peace.

Hot Off The Presses: What’s New?

“Clutter?” Don’t know what you’re talking about.

I call it “optimized wardrobe management.” Some people just don’t appreciate the efficiency of using a floordrobe, amirite?

Oops, that reminds me of the laundry I forgot about in the washing machine… BRB.

In the meantime, keep reading for what’s new in WordPress.

Help Make The Internet Work for Everyone: WP Accessibility Day Calls for Volunteers

Raise your hand if you believe in keyboard-only navigable menus and alt-text for every cat meme!

WP Accessibility Day 2025 (a totally volunteer-run, non-profit WordPress event) is calling all inclusivity champions to suit up. No prior experience needed, just a willingness to make the web a resource that everyone can use.

The event livestreams for a glorious 24 hours straight, from October 15 at 9:45 AM Central (that’s 3:00 PM UTC) to October 16. The event team need your help before, during, and after the fun unfolds.

Day-of gigs include:

• Emcees (your game-show-host fantasy, finally realized!): You’ll do a pre-recorded intro, moderate live Q&A, and keep the vibe inclusive. Must speak clearly in English for a global crowd.
• Session Moderators: Make sure all events go smoothly and direct attendees with queries to the Q&A section.
• Lobby Moderators/Volunteer Point-of-Contact: Keep volunteers in check and monitor the Lobby Chat to make sure everyone’s sticking to the Code of Conduct.

There’s plenty of help needed post-event too, including:

• Video Reviewers: Fix captions, sync ASL, and spot any mistakes or typos.
• Translators: Fluent in English and another language? You can help refine auto-generated transcripts into clarity gold. (This one is paid, and there’s a separate application here.)

No organizing experience required; your only prerequisite is caring about an accessible internet. Ready to roll? Apply now, become part of the a11y army and feel good that you’re part of a team making the web more inclusive.

→ Get your volunteer FAQs answered here.

→ Put your hand up to volunteer here via this form.

Telex What You Want, What You Really Really Want: Vibe Coding Comes for WordPress Blocks

WordPress just dropped Telex, an extremely experimental AI tool that promises to turn your natural-language requests into functional, customizable Gutenberg blocks.

At WordCamp US 2025 in Portland, Matt Mullenweg pitched it like “V0 or Lovable, but specifically for WordPress,” referencing popular “vibe coding” services. The name is certainly a nostalgic throwback. Most of us probably aren’t old enough to remember the original Telex, which was technology that dinosaurs used to send text-based messages to each other during the Cretaceous Period.

Here’s how it’s supposed to work:

1. You type what you want, like “give me an image gallery,” or “I need a pricing block with 3 tiers.”
2. Telex spits out a downloadable .zip file you can install as a plugin onto your site or the Playground sandbox.

But, does it actually do what it promises?

Here’s what happened when a few folks in the WordPress world tested it out:

• Matt Medeiros from WP Minute tested 3 different projects, with very mixed results, but says there are “glimpses of something promising here.”
• Matt Cromwell used it to make a handy TL;DR button that summarizes blog posts in one click.
• Paul Charlton from WP Tuts attempted to do some “relatively basic things” and it crashed the browser. 😬

But hey, there is a big “EXPERIMENTAL” badge slapped across the tool, so maybe we can excuse the glitches for now and keep our expectations where they should be.

There’s also a warning label that says, “Use your best judgement when installing this code on your website,” soooo… Telex at your own risk for now. 😉

Have You Made Your WP Award Nominations? You’ve Only Got Until September 16th!

Roll out the virtual red carpet! Nominations are now open for the 2025 WP Awards.

It’s your chance to cast a vote for your favorite plugins, hosting companies, newsletters, and maybe even that one crazy theme developer who still answers support tickets at 2am with alarming cheerfulness. (When do you sleep?!?)

The WP Awards, organized by The WP Weekly, are basically the People’s Choice Awards of our little corner of the internet. Categories span plugins, hosting, SaaS tools, services, and content creators, which means you get to help decide who gets bragging rights for the next 12 months (and who gets to add “award-nominated” to their landing page).

The site is also a fantastic way to discover tools, plugins, and projects you didn’t even know existed.

For example:

• Did you know that there is a website that ranks website builders on how creator-friendly they are?
• Or a free tool that lets you quickly find out which WordPress theme a site uses?
• Or a virtual museum showcasing stunning Block Editor creations?

There’s a TON of cool stuff being built in WordPress land, so why not head over and nominate your faves?

→ Submit your nominations here.

Mind Bloggling Facts & Stats

• The Kitchensink WP podcast is 600 episodes in, and Adam Silver still hasn’t run out of things to say about WordPress! (Source)
• According to the Melapress WordPress Security Survey, a concerning 96% of WordPress admins, devs, and other pros said they had experienced at least one security incident, and 64% had suffered a full breach. Eeep! 😱 (Source)
• Speaking of security, remember the story in our last edition about how hosting security failed against 87.8% of WordPress plugin exploits? Patchstack CEO Oliver Sild is seeking an independent reviewer to verify methods and results for part 2 of the analysis. (Source)

Blogs & Resources You Shouldn’t Miss

Jono Alderson is here to teach you all about cache flow management.

“I know what you did last login…” Darren McEntee’s Activity Log Pro lets you track everything happening on your WP site.

An “Experimental Accordion” Block, hey? Huh, didn’t know Weird Al was a WordPress dev…

New YouTube Series: Watch Marieke van de Rakt and Iris Guelen give websites the constructive roasting they deserve.

Here’s how to make a smart 404 page that’ll step in when AI hallucinates non-existent URLs.

Chris and Ryan offer a FAIR bit of clarity on how Federated and Independent Repositories actually works.

Accessibility isn’t an add-on, it’s a mindset. Sandra, Anne-Mieke, and Jennifer show you how to make it stick.

Coffee Break Distractions

Topher DeRosia shared some pics from WordCamp USA, including a cool series of artist Jax Ko painting a mural.

“WordPress is like water, it can take any form.” – wisdom from Mainul Kabir Aion.

Me on Monday morning: Who wrote this nonsense?! Oh wait…

These two look like experts at deleting cookies…

Does WordPress Core need more blocks? Justin Tadlock weighs in on the discussion.

Umm… this real-time AI webcam demo is actually pretty crazy!

The first rule of WP Builders Fight Club is… oh crap I’ve already broken it.

And finally…

Out with the boys, just having a terrible time.

Love this mix of nerdery and nonsense? Forward it to your favorite WordPress weirdo. 💗