{"id":223426,"date":"2025-02-25T07:20:45","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T07:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/?p=223426"},"modified":"2025-02-24T16:22:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T16:22:18","slug":"joke-joke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/joke-joke\/","title":{"rendered":"&lt;Joke&gt;&lt;\/Joke&gt;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Read to the end to find out what happens when a cat <em>finally<\/em> catches the laser pointer beam\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>In today\u2019s edition:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Press Paws: WPMU DEV now hosts the largest support community for three-legged pets and their humans.<\/li>\n<li>Would you commit to a domain name that is guaranteed to outlive you?<\/li>\n<li>WordPress 6.8 will finally use bcrypt for password hashing, addressing a 13 year old ticket.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Hot Off The Presses: What\u2019s New?<\/h2>\n<div class=\"image-grid cgrid-row\">\n<div class=\"cgrid-col cgrid-col-span-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/posture-struggles-long-hours-computer.png\" alt=\"Social media post humorously comparing bad computer posture to Quasimodo.\" width=\"938\" height=\"242\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-223427\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>To all you folks hunched over your laptops like medieval bellringers, we salute you. The tech industry might promise us the future, but our posture is firmly stuck in the 1400s. <\/p>\n<p>Take a moment to stretch out your spine, and let\u2019s dive into what\u2019s new in WordPress.<\/p>\n<h3>WPMU DEV Now Hosts The World\u2019s Largest Three-Legged Pet Community<\/h3>\n<p>Finding out that your beloved four-legged friend is about to become your beloved three-legged friend is pretty devastating news, but Jim Nelson built a site that helps pet parents of amputee cats and dogs feel a little less alone.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/tripawds.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tripawds<\/a> multisite network hosts more than 2,100 three-legged dog and cat blogs, with numerous resources to help people coping with a limb cancer diagnoses or amputation for their pet.<\/p>\n<p>They decided to try out our hosting because their previous host just wasn\u2019t cutting it, and they have recently migrated ALL their sites to the WPMU DEV hosting platform. Now everything\u2019s running as smoothly as <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/i08NawnSwW0?si=GOkl9uqZ2Q06vCUl\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">this majestic Irish Wolfhound<\/a> and we are so thrilled to support this amazing community!<\/p>\n<p>To learn more (and meet Tripawd\u2019s Chief Fun Officer Jerry G. Dawg) <a href=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wpmu-dev-hosts-largest-three-legged-pet-community\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">check out the blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Happy WP Publisher Success Week, Everyone!<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stateofdigitalpublishing.com\/wp-week\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WP Publisher Success Week<\/a> is back for it\u2019s second year and it\u2019s happening right now! The free virtual event will run until Friday the 28th and this time it\u2019s tackling the stuff that keeps us all up at night \u2014WordPress migrations, security and AI.<\/p>\n<p>Hosted by State of Digital Publishing and sponsored by Multidots, you can expect deep dives on migrating without pulling your hair out, insights on security at an enterprise scale, plus sessions on AI\u2019s growing role in publishing. Some pretty important publishers attended last year\u2019s event, including the BBC, The Hindu and Harvard University<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what you can still catch towards the end of the week:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Wed Feb 26: Site migrations without the headaches.<\/strong> Whether you\u2019re jumping ship from another CMS or just shifting servers, this is your chance to learn from people who\u2019ve been there, broken that, and lived to tell the tale. The panel Website Migration Essentials will feature Kyle Sutton (The Points Guy), Shelby Blackley (The Athletic and WTF is SEO?) and Bryan David (The Associated Press).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Thurs Feb 27: Scaling up while staying secure.<\/strong> Dan Knauss from Multidots hosts a workshop on best practices for keeping WordPress on lockdown, especially when it comes to securing large enterprise-scale sites.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fri Feb 28: AI: The good, the bad, and the \u201cwait, did a bot write this?\u201d<\/strong> Publishers are still figuring out where AI fits into their workflow, and this event promises real-world case studies and ethical best practices. Day Five\u2019s panel Unlocking AI Potential for Media Publishers: Real-World Strategies and Insights will include Pete Pachal (The Media Copilot) and Matt Karolian (The Boston Globe).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more info and to grab your pass for any of the remaining talks, you can visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stateofdigitalpublishing.com\/wp-week\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">State of Digital Publishing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Lock In a URL for Your Great-Grandkids? WordPress.com Now Offers 100 Year Domains <\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to imagine what the internet, or indeed society itself will look like in 100 years. But if you\u2019re so committed to your website domain that you want to leave it in your will to your great-grandkids, WordPress.com has expanded their 100 Year Hosting offering to include a domain-only plan.<\/p>\n<p>The 100-Year Plan was <a href=\"https:\/\/wptavern.com\/wordpress-com-launches-100-year-domain-and-hosting-plan-for-38k\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">originally introduced in 2023<\/a>, and for a one-time payment of $38k it included managed WordPress hosting, multiple backups, submission to the Internet Archive, 24\/7 dedicated support and a domain name for a full century.<\/p>\n<p>But now there\u2019s a new option to purchase the domain itself independently of hosting, for a one-off fee of $2,000. Normally domain names can only be registered for 10 years at a time due to ICANN regulations, but this option automates renewals so you\u2019ll never accidentally lose your domain because you missed the renewal date.<\/p>\n<p>Both the $38k hosting plan and the $2k domain plan are a huge bet on what the future of the web will look like. Who\u2019s to say that URLs will still be the way we identify web addresses decades from now? Will there even <em>be<\/em> websites 100 years from now? Will we all be fighting each other with sticks in a post apocalyptic wasteland? Who\u2019s to say!<\/p>\n<p>Either way, it\u2019s a pretty wild offer considering everyone involved in the original deal will definitely not be alive in 100 years, unless there\u2019s some sort of secret immortality juice the WordPress.com team has been drinking. \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n<p>Oh that reminds me, my great-grandad\u2019s 100-year telegram support package is about to expire\u2026 better get on that.<\/p>\n<h3>WordPress is <em>Finally<\/em> Upgrading Password Security (13 Years Later)<\/h3>\n<p>Good news for anyone who\u2019s ever had their WordPress site hacked because their password was something like \u201cpassword123\u201d (we\u2019re judging you, but just a little).<\/p>\n<p>WordPress 6.8 is beefing up security by switching to <strong>bcrypt<\/strong> for password hashing\u2014aka the thing that scrambles your password so hackers can\u2019t easily steal it.<\/p>\n<p>And get this: <strong>this upgrade closes out a Trac ticket that\u2019s been open for 13 years<\/strong>. Yep, more than a decade of countless security discussions, and a huge amount of work by WordPress Core Security Team rep <strong>John Blackbourn<\/strong>, a Human Made-sponsored core committer, finally made it happen.<\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t spend your free time thinking about cryptographic algorithms (weird flex, but okay), here\u2019s why this matters:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bcrypt is stronger.<\/strong> The old system (MD5-based hashing) has been around since the early 90s, back when people thought dial-up internet was the future. Hackers have had decades to crack it. Bcrypt, on the other hand, is way more resistant to brute-force attacks.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It slows down hackers.<\/strong> Bcrypt is designed to be computationally expensive, meaning it takes longer to run through possible password combinations. If someone tries to brute-force their way into your WordPress admin, they\u2019ll have a very bad time.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Future-proofing.<\/strong> The new system allows for easier security upgrades later on, so we won\u2019t be stuck using ancient encryption methods forever. Not sure about 100 years from now, but hey!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is a win for WordPress security, and it\u2019s about time. The best part? You don\u2019t have to do anything. WordPress will automatically upgrade your password hashing the next time you log in. No need to manually reset your password, unless you\u2019re <em>still<\/em> using \u201cpassword123.\u201d In which case\u2026 just fix that already. Please.<\/p>\n<p>A <em>huge<\/em> shoutout to everyone who pushed this across the finish line. Now, if only we could get everyone to turn on two-factor authentication\u2026<\/p>\n<h2>Mind Bloggling Facts &#038; Stats<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Lawrence Ladomery from WPBiz Dev pointed out that the local speaker representation at WordCamp Asia 2025 has decreased 2% since last year\u2019s event. Only 38% of speakers are from the region, despite efforts to attract more locals and a goal of 60% local representation. (<a href=\"https:\/\/wpbiz.dev\/community\/wordcamp-asia-2025-misses-target-for-local-speaker-representation\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Speaking of WordCamp Asia 2025, the \u201cHuman Library\u201d was a standout feature. 16 expert \u201cbooks\u201d were available and a total of 64 sessions were \u201cborrowed.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/asia.wordcamp.org\/2025\/human-library-books\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">You can meet the \u201cbooks\u201d here!<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/asia.wordcamp.org\/2025\/contributor-day-recap\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Patchstack disclosed a critical privilege escalation vulnerability in the KLEO theme\u2019s companion plugin, which has 23,000 sales on Themeforest. If you\u2019re one of those 23k, update to version 5.4.0 ASAP! (<a href=\"https:\/\/patchstack.com\/articles\/critical-privilege-escalation-patched-in-kleo-themes-plugin\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Blogs &#038; Resources You Shouldn\u2019t Miss<\/h2>\n<p>Is relying on AI rotting your critical thinking skills? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/uploads\/prod\/2025\/01\/lee_2025_ai_critical_thinking_survey.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This Microsoft study says so<\/a>. (We dare you to NOT ask AI to summarize it for you.)<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of AI, Weglot, Rank Math and WP Rocket are conducting a survey exploring AI\u2019s impact on SEO practices. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/r\/weglot\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">You can share your thoughts here<\/a>. Participants get first access to the results.<\/p>\n<p>Kyle Van Deusen from the Admin Bar has some great tips on <a href=\"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/avoiding-time-wasters-tire-kickers\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">how to qualify leads<\/a> &#8211; because who has time for tire-kickers?<\/p>\n<p>On the <a href=\"https:\/\/poststatus.com\/post-status-happiness-hour-session-twenty-one\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Post Status Happiness Hour<\/a>, Michelle Frecette &#038; Jono Alderson discuss the environmental impact of storing large or redundant images on your site &#8211; and what you can do about it.<\/p>\n<p>Bob Dunn has <a href=\"https:\/\/dothewoo.io\/do-the-woo-v5-0-is-in-the-wild-at-wordcamp-asia-2025\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">launched a new <em>Do The Woo<\/em><\/a>, including a YouTube channel, a homepage redesign and Cami MacNamara as a new host.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s plenty of International Women\u2019s Day events coming up in the WordPress world, including <a href=\"https:\/\/events.wordpress.org\/delhi\/2025\/WomensDay\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tech For Her Delhi<\/a> in India, <a href=\"https:\/\/mukono.wordcamp.org\/2025\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress HERoes at WordCamp Mukono, Uganda<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/events.wordpress.org\/bhopal\/2025\/WomensDay\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">EmpowerWP in Bhopal, India<\/a>. We love to see it! \u2665\ufe0f<\/p>\n<h2>Coffee Break Distractions<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp.gallery\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">For some design eye-candy, check out this gallery of websites made with the WordPress block editor.<\/a> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/webflow.com\/blog\/90s-website-design\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">And for a little bit of retro inspiration, here\u2019s 14 examples of classic 90s web design. The Space Jam site is still live?!<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/frankieats\/status\/1883204090643239194\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">How it feels ordering something sweet at breakfast when everyone else is getting some sort of savory egg dish.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wandering.shop\/@zzclaybourne\/114027625722914777\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">It\u2019s good to still have joy in your life.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.window-swap.com\/Window\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Window Swap gives you a peek out of a random window somewhere in the world. You can even share yours!<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/creativetechguy.com\/plantersprogress\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Plant seeds, grow crops and pay attention to soil nutrients in this simple but challenging farming game.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/worlds-highest-website.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The \u201cWorld\u2019s Highest Website\u201d has 18.94 km (11.77 miles) of scrolling. (The good news, there\u2019s an \u201celevator\u201d)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wtfshouldidowithmylife.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">If you\u2019re wondering what you should do with your life, this might help.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And finally\u2026<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Awww\/comments\/1iwgg8k\/i_dont_think_anyone_gonna_believe_him\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The sweet taste of laser pointer victory.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Found this interesting? Forward it to someone who you think might also love it!<\/strong> \ud83d\udc97<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read to the end to find out what happens when a cat finally catches the laser pointer beam\u2026 In today\u2019s edition: Press Paws: WPMU DEV now hosts the largest support community for three-legged pets and their humans. Would you commit to a domain name that is guaranteed to outlive you? WordPress 6.8 will finally use [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1204260,"featured_media":223199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"blog_reading_time":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_tutorials_categories":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11265],"tags":[],"tutorials_categories":[],"class_list":["post-223426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dev"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1204260"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223426"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223432,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223426\/revisions\/223432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223426"},{"taxonomy":"tutorials_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tutorials_categories?post=223426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}