PHP Internals News: Episode 74: Fibers

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WordPress 5.6.1 Maintenance Release

WordPress 5.6.1 is now available!

This maintenance release features 20 bug fixes as well as 7 issues fixed for the block editor. These bugs affect WordPress version 5.6, so you’ll want to upgrade.

You can download WordPress 5.6.1 directly, or visit the Dashboard → Updates screen and click Update Now. If your sites support automatic background updates, they’ve already started the update process.

WordPress 5.6.1 is a short-cycle maintenance release. The next major release will be version 5.7.

To see a full list of changes, you can browse the list on Trac, read the 5.6.1 RC1 post, or visit the 5.6.1 documentation page.

Thanks and props!

The 5.6.1 release was led by @audrasjb, @desrosj, @sergeybiryukov and @whyisjake. Thanks to @metalandcoffee and @hellofromtonya for running bug scrubs, @planningwrite and @davidbaumwald for their help on the release post.

Props to everyone who helped make WordPress 5.6.1 happen:

aaribaud, Aaron D. Campbell, Ahmed Saeed, Andrew Ozz, Anthony Burchell, archon810, Ari Stathopoulos, Ayesh Karunaratne, basscan, carloscastilloadhoc, Carolina Nymark, celendesign, Christopher Finke, Copons, Dan Farrow, Daniel Richards, david.binda, Denis Yanchevskiy, Dilip Bheda, Dominik Schilling, Ebonie Butler, Felix Arntz, Florian TIAR, Garrett Hyder, gKibria, Greg Ziółkowski, Helen Hou-Sandi, Ian Dunn, ifnoob, Isabel Brison, Ismail El Korchi, Jake Spurlock, James Huff, Jason LeMahieu (MadtownLems), Jb Audras, John Blackbourn, Jonathan Desrosiers, Jonathan Stegall, Jorge Costa, Josepha, Justin Ahinon, Kai Hao, Kelly Choyce-Dwan, Kjell Reigstad, Konstantinos Xenos, litemotiv, lucasbustamante, Mahdi Akrami, majhajob, Manzur Ahammed, Marius L. J., Matt Wiebe, Maxime Pertici, Mel Choyce-Dwan, Michael Babker, Mukesh Panchal, NicolasKulka, Nik Tsekouras, oakesjosh, Peter Wilson, Prem Tiwari, Riad Benguella, Richard Tape, Robert Anderson, Rodrigo Primo, SeBsZ, Sergey Biryukov, Slava Abakumov, Stephen Bernhardt, t-p, Takashi Kitajima, Tanvirul Haque, thorlentz, Timothy Jacobs, Toni Viemerö, Tony A, Tonya Mork, transl8or, and Vlad T.

The Month in WordPress: January 2021

For WordPress, 2021 started on a high note. Read on to learn about updates from last month. 

WordPress release updates

WordPress project executive director — Josepha Haden (@chanthaboune) shared big picture goals for WordPress in 2021. Highlights include shipping  Full Site Editing  — first on the Gutenberg plugin in April 2021  and later in core (with WordPress 5.8), improved learning opportunities on learn.wordpress.org, and better tooling for contributors. As per the updated WordPress roadmap, WordPress version 5.7 is planned to launch in March 2021 and WordPress 5.8 in June 2021. Some related updates:

• Contributor teams are working on an updated admin color palette for WordPress 5.7 that will be more accessible and easy to read. 
• The Core team is working on a proposal to align WordPress release cycles with industry standards. 
• WordPress 5.6.1 Release Candidate 1 is out. This release is set to launch by February 3, 2021. Questions and answers for WordPress 5.6 are now available on GitHub. Contact the #marketing channel in the WordPress Slack, if you would like to contribute.
• The WordPress 5.7 Beta 1 release is out! Download the zip file or use the beta tester plugin to test it out. 

Want to be involved in the next release? You can help build WordPress Core by following the Core team blog and joining the #core channel in the Making WordPress Slack group.

Proposal to return to in-person WordPress events in safe locations

The Community team is discussing an updated proposal to create a decision-making checklist for meetup organizers. The proposal is aimed at locations that have more effectively contained COVID-19 (such as New Zealand and Taiwan, for instance) so that local meetup groups in these areas can organize safe, in-person events. According to the proposal, in-person meetup organizers should review local/global health instructions based on resources and complete a checklist — which recommends whether to organize an event or not based on the organizer’s inputs and other factors. Compulsory safety precautions should be taken for any in-person meetup, and participants/organizers can share event feedback with WordCamp Central. The proposal is still being discussed, so if you have any thoughts, please share them in the comments. Please note: WordPress meetups and WordCamps are still online at this time and will continue to remain online until further notice.

Want to get involved with the Community team? Follow the Community blog, or join them in the #community-events channel in the Making WordPress Slack group. To organize a local WordPress community event, visit the handbook page. 

Gutenberg 9.7 and 9.8

Contributor teams released Gutenberg Version 9.7 on January 6th and Version 9.8 on January 20th. Version 9.7 allows users to drag block patterns from the inserter right into a desired position within the editor. It also has a new block variations feature and several improvements to reusable blocks. Version 9.6 makes the spacer block semi-transparent, adds a variation icon to the block switcher, adds site editor content to an iframe, and stabilizes Full Site Editing (FSE) by removing the auto drafts feature.

Want to get involved in building Gutenberg? Follow the Core team blog, contribute to Gutenberg on GitHub, and join the #core-editor channel in the Making WordPress Slack group. You can find out more about the Gutenberg roadmap in the latest What’s next in Gutenberg blog post.

Inviting Learn WordPress Contributors

Contributor teams working on the Learn WordPress initiative are asking for new workshop presenters and discussion group facilitators. The Training Team is recruiting volunteers for the Learn WordPress handbook and has put up a call for testing for the slides plugin to identify a simplified way to present slides. The Polyglots Team has floated a proposal to translate Learn WordPress. The Meta Team is exploring the possibility of making Learn WordPress (and wordpress.org) COPPA-compliant to host workshops aimed at kids.

Want to contribute to the Training team? Follow the Training team blog, or join them in the #training channel in the Make WordPress Slack. 

Further Reading

• Round 1 of the Full Site Editing (FSE) outreach program has wrapped up. As a result, gaps were identified in the Gutenberg 9.6 template-switching experience – you can follow the issues in GitHub. You can follow issues in GitHub and submit questions to the team. The program identified gaps in the current template-switching experience that shipped with Gutenberg 9.6. You can follow the issues reported in GitHub. Do you have questions about the FSE program? You can now submit it to the Test team.
• People of WordPress — A cross-team initiative led by the Marketing team to highlight WordPress contributors is back with a post featuring Thelma Muelte of Zimbabwe. If you are an active contributor to a WordPress.org team or a local WordCamp, contact the Marketing Team with the #ContributorStory tag to be featured in the series.
• Joseph Haden (@chanthaboune) launched a podcast titled WP Briefing which is aimed at WordPress users, builders, and contributors of all levels. The podcast – which is available on all major platforms, will include overviews of WordPress philosophy, community success stories, and major updates. 
• The Plugin team has added a requirement that plugins in the WordPress repository must not make changes to the default auto-update settings on a site. The only exception to this requirement is for those plugins that manage auto-updates.
• WordCamp India 2021 — a regional online WordCamp has begun. It’s running over three weekends and started with Multilingual workshop sessions on January 30 and 31. The workshops can be found on the event site and will soon be featured on Learn WordPress. Tickets are still available for the event —which will have a contribution event on February 6-7, followed by sessions on February 13th and 14th. 
• The WordPress Foundation has invited applications for online do_action hackathons and encouraged folks to organize online open-source workshops in 2021.
• The Themes Team shared a post on the usage of the “Report this theme” button in 2020. The team is also looking for maintainers for its Theme unit test.
• The Meta Team has launched an initiative to facilitate automated theme testing and is requesting feedback.
• Members of the Core Team are considering a “stale bot” to close out stale issues in the Gutenberg GitHub repository.

Have a story that we should include in the next “Month in WordPress” post? Please submit it using this form.

As a Designer, Is Failure a Necessary Part of Success?

As a Designer, Is Failure a Necessary Part of Success?

We all go through it at one time or another. You’re working on a project and no matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to get it to “work.” The colors are wrong, the type is inappropriate, the composition is hideous – it’s just a mess, and you eventually write it off as a failure. Sometimes you have the luxury of hiding the whole thing in a folder in the very back of your hard drive, where no human eyes will ever come upon it.

But what happens when you have a project that’s due in to your client at 8AM, and it’s currently 3AM and you’ve got absolutely nothing decent to present? Do you curl up into a ball and declare yourself a failed designer for all time? Or is there another way to approach this inevitable feeling which will leave you, if not satisfied, at least able to continue on with your life and your career with confidence? Let’s explore, shall we?

Prepare To Fail

You’ve probably heard it said that failure is a necessary part of success. That’s fine to say and all, but in my scenario above, when it’s 3 in the morning and you’re sobbing uncontrollably, chances are you’re not going to simply repeat that adage to yourself and snap out of it.

The key to really believing that failure is a necessary part of your process is conditioning yourself beforehand, so that it doesn’t come as a complete shock to you when you’re actually in the trenches. Keeping your mind sharp with creative exercises every day, that are unrelated to your work, will gradually introduce you to the idea of failure, because trust me – you’re going to fail at many of those exercises.

Force yourself to keep to a schedule for your personal projects just like you schedule your paid work. There’s no worse feeling than failing to complete a project when you have yourself as the client. It’s much worse, in my experience, than bombing on a paid assignment. At least you’re not expected to hold yourself accountable. But once you experience this unique form of torture often enough, you’ll find that it will actually help you start working faster and more efficiently.

You’ll become used to the idea that you’ll have to give it a few extra tries before you get it right, and by the time your next freelance assignment comes along, you’ll be ready to fail with gusto. Well. Maybe not gusto. But at least with some kind of dignity.

Through the Valley of Insight

In the book Switch by Chip and Dan Heath, there’s an exercise from Tim Brown, the CEO of design consultancy firm IDEO which I think is especially useful to designers “learning” how to fail. In the book, Brown is said to provide his employees with what he calls a “project mood chart,” which informs people how they will feel at various stages during any given project.

The chart itself is shaped like a V – at the left point of the V, there’s a label that reads “hope.” This signifies the rush of excitement you feel when you first start on a project. You’re relaxed and focused, everything is going swimmingly and you’re absolutely sure you’ll get everything in to the client on time.

The label on the other end of the V reads “confidence.” This represents the way you feel after you’ve finished a project successfully. You’re high on positive energy; you’ve kicked ass and your client wants to marry you. Sweet. This is how every designer wants to feel after it’s all over – proud and accomplished. The trick is getting there.

The third label in the V-shaped diagram reads “insight.” This is the point between “A” and “B,” and it’s where all the failure and depression and late-night drinking binges lie. Everyone has to cross this valley and gain the insight they need to get to the confidence of a successful job well done.

It’s like crossing a desert – many never make it. You can almost imagine dry skeletons of your fallen design comrades as they gave up and got stuck in the valley forever. Some gave up on creative work altogether and became secretaries or accountants. You don’t want to be one of those people. You chose a creative field for a reason, and the sooner you develop the mental toughness to cross the unpleasant valley, the more prepared you’ll be for when you have to do it all over again next time.

Isn’t being a designer fun?

It’s Not Really Failure

Here’s something about failure that you might find interesting. Most of what we normally refer to as “failure” isn’t actually failure at all. If you’re stuck in the middle of a project that’s going nowhere fast, you can feel like there’s nowhere to go but down and write the whole thing off as a lost cause.

But if you learn to develop persistence, you’ll eventually realize that, despite things not going so smoothly at first, your momentum will eventually start to pick up and you’ll inexplicably find the energy to begin scaling the side of the mountain to victory. Your confidence will grow the more ground you cover, and eventually, it will overcome your sense of doom and the “failure” will show its true nature as a mere pothole in the road.

Conclusion

Everyone goes through periods where they feel like nothing is working right. And, no matter how much experience you gain as a designer, crossing that valley from hope to confidence is going to be unpleasant. Even with my years of experience as a writer and designer, there are still times when I need to go back and read or look at something encouraging – a quote, a sketch of my eventual project, or even an article like this one, to give myself a boost to keep on going.

Giving yourself encouragement when you need it is essential to learning how to fail “properly.”

The post As a Designer, Is Failure a Necessary Part of Success? appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

10 Free Syntax Highlighter WordPress Plugins

One of the truly great aspects of the web design community is its willingness to share solutions and ideas. As such, many people choose to post tutorials and helpful code snippets on their blogs.

When displaying code, it’s a good idea to make snippets look as clean and easy to read as possible. You’ll also want to make sure that it’s easy for users to copy and paste for their own use.

Beyond posting snippets on the frontend, there are also some good reasons to add syntax highlighting within WordPress itself. For one, the standard WordPress code editor can be cumbersome when trying to find specific code – especially on longer pages and posts.

Here is a collection of free WordPress plugins to help you display and edit code, beautifully.

Highlighting Code Block

Designed for use with both the block and Classic editors, Highlight Code Block makes displaying syntax-highlighted code a breeze. Several popular languages are supported, and the included settings screen lets you customize the display.

Code Syntax Block

Utilizing the Prism syntax highlighter, Code Syntax Block enhances the existing Code block. This makes it easy to display formatted code snippets on the front end without any additional work.

In addition, the plugin includes a selection of visual themes. Additional choices are available through the Prism themes repository.

Syntax-highlighting Code Block (with Server-side Rendering)

Syntax-highlighting Code Block has been built with an eye towards performance. Install the plugin and it will automatically add syntax highlighting to the WordPress Code block – including existing blocks.

Since it renders the code server-side, there’s no need to enqueue JavaScript on the front-end of your site. And, CSS is only added on pages that contain a Code block. It’s also compatible with Google AMP.

SyntaxHighlighter Evolved

SyntaxHighlighter Evolved is a simple plugin that allows for adding nicely-formatted code to your WordPress website. It includes a custom block for Gutenberg users but still plays nicely with the Classic editor as well. As an aside, the block is also utilized over on WordPress.com.

Urvanov Syntax Highlighter

Fans of the old Crayon Syntax Highlighter will want to check out this “reincarnation”.

The included custom block makes it easy to add highlighted snippets but works elsewhere with any code placed between <pre></pre> tags. An integrated theme editor allows for plenty of customization.

My Syntax Highlighter

With 36 themes supported, there’s a good chance My Syntax Highlighter will fit in beautifully with your WordPress website.

The plugin uses the CodeMirror library and has included 16 different Shortcodes you can use to easily display code.

Enlighter – Customizable Syntax Highlighter

Enlighter will allow for full WordPress visual editor integration on both the backend and frontend of your site. This means the familiar TinyMCE editor you see inside of WordPress can also be shown on your public site.

You’ll also be able to display tab-panes to group several snippets together.

Prismatic

Prismatic gives you three options for displaying code: Prism.js, Highlight.js and Plain.

The first two use their own respective libraries, while the third displays code without any syntax highlighting (allowing you to customize the way it looks). The plugin focuses on being lightweight and only loads CSS/JS when needed.

Code Prettify

Code Prettify uses the Google Code Prettify library to automatically highlight any code within the <pre> or <code> tags.

HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter

Now, to improve the WordPress Post/Page Editor, we have HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter. Highlighting code in the backend makes life much easier for developers.

This plugin not only highlights code, it also will restore your cursor position after a page reload (which eliminates a common pet peeve).

Highlight Your Site

Syntax highlighters are an easy way to enhance the user experience, whether you’re sharing snippets with the world or just editing your own code in the backend.

Take some time to experiment with one or more of the plugins above and see which of them works best for you.

The post 10 Free Syntax Highlighter WordPress Plugins appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.