{"id":224376,"date":"2026-02-10T09:15:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T09:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/?p=224376"},"modified":"2026-02-08T07:25:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T07:25:42","slug":"dev-au-over-there-yes-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/dev-au-over-there-yes-you\/","title":{"rendered":"DEV: .AU Over There! Yes, You!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Welcome to DEV, your fortnightly snapshot of what\u2019s evolving across WordPress.<\/strong><br \/>\nWe\u2019ll meet you somewhere between \u201cfinished\u201d and \u201cshipping,\u201d with the latest developments, ongoing experiments, and community updates to help you stay in step with a project that never stands still.<\/p>\n<p>Stick around to the end to see the mighty Nimbus and his squirrel.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In today\u2019s edition: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The \u201cYear of the Meetup\u201d begins, and WordPress wants you doing, not just listening.<\/li>\n<li>A first look at WordPress 7.0, plus a call for testing before launch.<\/li>\n<li>G\u2019day, domain wranglers: you can now herd your .com.au and .net.au names in one place. \ud83e\ude83<\/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\/2026\/02\/read-only-house-tweet-1050x593.png\" alt=\"Tweet saying the house is now read-only after cleaning\" width=\"1050\" height=\"593\" class=\"aligncenter size-ratio-full wp-image-224378\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/br><br \/>\nJust like when you\u2019ve pushed a sparkling clean, perfect codebase to production, the house is now read-only mode. No merge requests accepted.<\/p>\n<p>Although, there\u2019s an annoying virus called dust that keeps overriding the read-only restrictions\u2026 need to send a ticket about that\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Stop! You need admin privileges to leave that dirty coffee cup in the sink! I\u2019m serious. If I find as much as a candy wrapper on the countertop, I\u2019m gonna lose it.<\/p>\n<p>Kitchen_final_v46.cln would stay spotless if everyone would just STOP EATING THERE!<\/p>\n<p><em>*ahem*<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Anyway. Just like the house will never stay clean, things will never stop changing in WordPress. Keep reading to find out what\u2019s new and what\u2019s coming up next.<\/p>\n<h2>The WordPress Team Wants You To Actually <em>Do Stuff<\/em> At Meetups<\/h2>\n<p><strong>TL;DR<\/strong>: Meetups are evolving from chat sessions into \u201cget-your-hands-dirty\u201d workshops. Mary Hubbard\u2019s 2026 goals push for active participation, but organizers warn the current setup might not be ready.<\/p>\n<h3>All Hands On Deck<\/h3>\n<p>Meetups are the \u201cprimary front door\u201d to WordPress, <a href=\"https:\/\/make.wordpress.org\/community\/2026\/01\/28\/2026-big-picture-goals-our-focus-on-meetups\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">says Juan Hernando<\/a>, and the team wants anyone walking through it to roll up their sleeves and actually participate.<\/p>\n<p>Juan\u2019s post lays out 2026\u2019s meetup evolution: templates and resources for hands-on, issue-focused sessions, plus updated orientation guides that nudge newcomers toward doing, not just watching.<\/p>\n<p>The timing couldn\u2019t be better: programs like Campus Connect, Credits, and Student Clubs are already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.therepository.email\/wordpress-org-launches-new-education-hub-highlighting-campus-connect-credits-and-student-clubs\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">bringing in fresh faces<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>The Big Picture<\/h3>\n<p>This shift didn\u2019t come out of nowhere. It\u2019s directly connected to <a href=\"https:\/\/make.wordpress.org\/project\/2026\/01\/23\/big-picture-goals-for-2026\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WordPress Executive Director Mary Hubbard\u2019s big picture goals for 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>She calls for meetups to become places of \u201cactive participation,\u201d rather than \u201cpassive attendance.\u201d As AI tools become more common across the web, she explains, shared learning becomes even more important. <\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cMeetups are where people can sit side by side,\u201d explains Mary, \u201clearn how these tools actually fit into WordPress workflows, and build confidence together.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Even Matt Mullenweg is on board, calling 2026 the \u201cYear of the Meetup\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/openchannels.fm\/matt-mullenweg-on-woocommerces-future-and-competitive-strengths-in-online-commerce\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">on the Do The Woo podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s hoping the front door swings wider, meetups get better than ever, and more folks bring their hands-on skills to the community. \ud83d\udeaa\u2728<\/p>\n<h2>WordPress 7.0 Is Almost Here: And Your Feedback is Needed<\/h2>\n<p>Anne McCarthy from Automattic <a href=\"https:\/\/nomad.blog\/2026\/01\/23\/exploring-work-in-progress-for-wordpress-7-0\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">recently shared a look<\/a> at the features nearly ready for WordPress 7.0. She\u2019s talkin\u2019 more flexible navigation, responsive grid styles, and smoother workflows that make publishing just a bit less fiddly.<\/p>\n<p>Her post gives a sneak peek at what\u2019s coming and shows how the core team is thinking about user experience before the official release.<\/p>\n<h3>Planning Ahead<\/h3>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/make.wordpress.org\/core\/2025\/12\/11\/planning-for-7-0\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">planning post from the Core team<\/a> lays out priorities for this major update, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Streamlining the editor and simplifying navigation.<\/li>\n<li>Adding new blocks and block tools.<\/li>\n<li>Upgrades to the Notes feature to make it even more powerful.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In other words, this isn\u2019t just bells and whistles, it\u2019s about making site-building cleaner, faster, more flexible, and more collaborative.<\/p>\n<h3>Call For Hands-On Testing <\/h3>\n<p>Some features still need real-world feedback, which is where you can get involved. The Test team is calling for contributors to try out some experimental AI-powered features, like type-ahead suggestions, comment moderation assistance and AI request logging.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t even need to know how to review code to participate here, they\u2019re looking for high-level answers to questions like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Does this feel useful, or confusing?<\/li>\n<li>Would you use this if it shipped tomorrow?<\/li>\n<li>What would be the first thing you\u2019d change?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you\u2019ve got some time to click around, your testing could directly influence WordPress 7.0 before it ships.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 <a href=\"https:\/\/make.wordpress.org\/ai\/2026\/02\/04\/call-for-testing-exploring-new-ai-experiments\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Check out the call for testers here<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Australians, Rejoice: .com.au and .net.au Transfers Are Here \ud83e\udd98\ud83e\ude83\ud83d\udc28\ud83c\udfc4<\/h3>\n<p>Good news for our friends down under: we now support <strong>incoming transfers for .com.au and .net.au domains<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>If your domains have been living elsewhere and you\u2019ve been eyeing a move, this one\u2019s refreshingly straightforward, no drama, no surprises.<\/p>\n<p>A few things to know before you throw another domain on the barbie (because Aussie domains like to play by their own rules):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The registrant still needs to meet the same eligibility requirements (ABN, ACN, business name, etc.) as when registering the domain.<\/li>\n<li>There\u2019s no cost to transfer. Yep, zero dollars.<\/li>\n<li>The expiry date stays exactly the same.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In short: fewer hoops, no extra cost, and all your domains in one tidy place.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 <a href=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/docs\/hub-2-0\/domains\/#domain-transfers-au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Full details on how it works are in the docs.<\/a><br \/>\n\ud83d\udc49 <a href=\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/hub2\/domains\/transfer\" target=\"_blank\">To initiate the transfer of your domain, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Mind Bloggling Facts &#038; Stats<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Knock knock, who\u2019s there? \ud83e\udd16 Robots, apparently. According to the stats from WP Engine, automated traffic now accounts for 51% of all web activity. (<a href=\"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/blog\/ai-reshaping-the-web\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Bug hunting pays big bucks! Wordfence shelled out $12,402 in bounties during the December 2025 WordPress bug bounty program, with 25 high-threat issues flagged. They received 759 vulnerability reports, which is an increase of 1.7% from the previous month. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wordfence.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/wordfence-bug-bounty-program-monthly-report-december-2025\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>There\u2019s now 200 episodes spinning on the WP Tavern Jukebox, and Corey Maass celebrates the milestone by sharing his AT tech stack and workflows. (<a href=\"https:\/\/wptavern.com\/podcast\/200-corey-maass-on-his-real-life-ai-tools-and-workflows-in-wordpress-development\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Blogs &#038; Resources You Shouldn\u2019t Miss<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.com\/blog\/2026\/02\/04\/freshly-pressed-is-back\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Freshly Pressed is back<\/a>: a curated, subscribable spotlight of well-written blog posts from the WordPress ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>If your WordPress page looks like a polar bear in a snowstorm (aka. The White Screen of Death) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.codeable.io\/blog\/wordpress-white-screen-of-death\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here\u2019s what to do<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>During a home renovation, Kevin Geary gets an annoying reminder of <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/thekevingeary\/status\/2006415654518403445\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">why it\u2019s important to build things with quality<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>WordPress-based <a href=\"https:\/\/regionallyfamous.com\/your-second-brain-will-outlive-your-notes-app\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Noggin<\/a> promises to be the second-brain note-taking system you\u2019ll still be using in 10 years.<\/p>\n<p>What do using AI for WordPress contributions and being a responsible dog owner have in common? <a href=\"https:\/\/make.wordpress.org\/ai\/handbook\/ai-guidelines\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">You\u2019re responsible for cleaning up any messes<\/a>. \ud83d\udca9<\/p>\n<p>What do agency owners propose as the best proposal software? <a href=\"https:\/\/theadminbar.com\/the-best-proposal-software-for-web-agencies\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Admin Bar rounds up the top picks<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Slip-off footwear, clay cups and \u201cIndian Stretchable Time\u201d: If you\u2019re heading to WordCamp Asia, <a href=\"https:\/\/asia.wordcamp.org\/2026\/namaste-india-guide-to-indian-culture\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here\u2019s a cultural primer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Coffee Break Distractions<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/aww\/comments\/1q6xgrn\/i_thought_i_rescued_one_cat_and_two_days_later\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This is what happens<\/a> when you let a Trojan Cat through your gates.<\/p>\n<p>When you see the words \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/programmerhumor.io\/programming-memes\/when-quick-question-turns-into-a-full-system-redesign-r0up\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Quick question\u2026<\/a>\u201d pop up on Slack and your life flashes before your eyes.<\/p>\n<p>This is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/SideProject\/comments\/1m0kneg\/created_a_chrome_extension_to_practice_typing_on\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">exactly the <em>type<\/em> of cool side project<\/a> we love to see.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of\u2026 generative AI now <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DavidKPiano\/status\/2011883622899519765\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">generates infinite side-quests<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Now this? This right here? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/MadeMeSmile\/comments\/1q6h6xo\/lucky_guy\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This is love<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/programmerhumor.io\/frontend-memes\/cat-css-1gob\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Catscading stylesheets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A dude who just made a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/JustGuysBeingDudes\/comments\/1qxh7ph\/executive_decision\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">very smart purchase<\/a>. \ud83e\uddc0<\/p>\n<p>And finally\u2026<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/aww\/comments\/1qqkdn4\/nimbus_and_his_squirrel\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nimbus and his squirrel<\/a>. \ud83d\udc3f\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p><strong>Love this mix of nerdery and nonsense? Forward it to your favorite WordPress weirdo.<\/strong> \ud83d\udc97<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to DEV, your fortnightly snapshot of what\u2019s evolving across WordPress. We\u2019ll meet you somewhere between \u201cfinished\u201d and \u201cshipping,\u201d with the latest developments, ongoing experiments, and community updates to help you stay in step with a project that never stands still. Stick around to the end to see the mighty Nimbus and his squirrel. In [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1204260,"featured_media":223007,"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-224376","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\/224376","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=224376"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224381,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224376\/revisions\/224381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224376"},{"taxonomy":"tutorials_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tutorials_categories?post=224376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}