This Week in WordPress: Feb 12 – Feb 19, 2026
It’s been a busy week across the WordPress ecosystem. We tracked 19 noteworthy developments spanning Core Updates, Community, Security, Plugins, and more. Leading the news: WordPress 7.0 Product Review Meeting with @matt. From core updates and plugin releases to security advisories and community conversations — here’s everything you need to know, all in one place. We’ve ranked the most impactful stories at the top so you can quickly catch up on what matters most. Let’s dive in.
▌Top Stories This Week
Core Updates · February 18, 2026 · 1 min read
WordPress 7.0 Product Review Meeting with @matt
We’re holding an open WordPress 7.0 product review Thursday, February 19th, and would love input from contributors across teams. This will be a 90-minute working session to review where 7.0 stands and align on the story we’re telling as we head toward release. @matveb will lead the call as the 7.0 Release Lead. Planned topics: Admin refresh designs AI integrations and connectors Key product highlights and overall direction The goal is to leave with clear bullet points that can feed directly into the 7.0 release post and WordCamp presentations. Time: DotOrg WP 7.0 Product Review Timezones: 1…
Continue Reading →Core Updates · February 13, 2026 · 2 min read
WordPress 7.0 Release Party Schedule
WordPress 7.0 is scheduled for release on April 9, 2026! Below is the proposed calendar with expected start times for each release party, and the release squad contributors involved in release parties for the upcoming 7.0 milestone . This release party schedule will stay in effect during the Release Candidate phase and the final release of WordPress 7.0. This enables contributors to attend and assist with release testing during the final weeks of the release cycle. The release squad will do its best to communicate any changes promptly by publishing a post on the change, and updating this po…
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Core Updates · February 18, 2026 · 2 min read Dev Chat Agenda – February 18, 2026The next WordPress Developers Chat will take place on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, at 15:00 UTC in the core channel on Make WordPress Slack . The live meeting will focus on the discussion for upcoming releases, and have an open floor section. The various curated agenda sections below refer to additional items. Announcements WordPress 7.0 Updates The WordPress 7.0 Release Squad has been announced. Discussions The discussion section of the agenda is for discussing important topics affecting the upcoming release or larger initiatives that impact the Core Team. Tickets in the milestone for the… Continue Reading → |
Community · February 18, 2026 · 30 min read
#205 – Matt Cromwell on Redefining WordPress Product Growth in a Crowded Ecosystem
Transcript [00:00:19] Nathan Wrigley: Welcome to the Jukebox podcast from WP Tavern. Jukebox is a podcast which is dedicated to all things WordPress. The people, the events, the plugins, the blocks, the themes, and in this case, redefining WordPress product growth in a crowded ecosystem. Despite these changes, Matt remains optimistic about the opportunities for product makers, especially as WordPress evolves alongside emerging technologies like AI. The plugin directory in particular, when we launched GiveWP, I think there were 30,000 plugins at the time, or approaching 30,000. Despite these…
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Community · February 11, 2026 · 22 min read WordPress Tech Congress, WordCamp Valencia 2025. Tradition and InnovationOne of our major talks was given by Ivelina Dimova , titled “Prototyping Intelligent Features for WordPress” . In short, she shared the process of how to prototype intelligent features for WordPress, updating us with methods and tools that reveal a new era in web development. Within this category, there was also a talk with an important piece of news by Fernando Tellado , founder of AyudaWP, very well known in WordPress for his long track record of collaboration. He explained the reinvention and “The future of WordPress wp-admin”, which has gone years without significant changes. A big and… Continue Reading → |
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Community · February 9, 2026 · 8 min read WordCamp Bhopal 2025: A Decade of Community, A Weekend That Felt Like HomeI’m writing this post with a smile that refuses to leave my face. Because WordCamp Bhopal 2025 being a feather in our hat as a community wasn’t just another event on the calendar, it was deeply personal. For the WordPress Bhopal community, and for me, it marked something special: 10 years of showing up, learning together, and building something real . On one side, it was about bringing the larger WordPress and tech ecosystem to the city. Through sessions and workshops, 1,700+ students were introduced to WordPress, open source, and community-driven learning. Looking Ahead WordCamp Bhopal 202… Continue Reading → |
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Core Updates · February 18, 2026 · 3 min read Lily Burton Is Pivoting from PhD to Science Journalism. Her Portfolio Took an Hour to Build — and Already Landed Her Work.Lily Burton spent years in the lab. PhD in biochemistry and molecular biophysics at the University of Chicago. “I really enjoyed thinking about very deep questions,” she says. She opened WordPress.com, found the AI website builder , and started typing. What Lily’s new website delivered She didn’t get that first job. WordPress.com’s managed hosting also means she’s not dealing with updates or maintenance. Continue Reading → |
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Core Updates · February 10, 2026 · 10 min read What’s new for developers? (February 2026)WordPress 7.0 Beta 1 is fast approaching. That means the mad rush to get everything into Gutenberg and Core before the February 19th deadline is in full swing. The last couple of Gutenberg releases (22.4 and 22.5) shipped with a ton of new features. However, there are potential edge cases where some blocks may rely on the global document in JavaScript or CSS that may need to be updated. The reasons for this change were announced nearly five years ago and reiterated prior to the WordPress 6.9 release . To ensure your blocks are updated and working correctly, check out the migration guide in… Continue Reading → |
▌More Headlines
Security
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Wordfence Intelligence Weekly WordPress Vulnerability Report (February 2, 2026 to February 8, 2026)Feb 12 — Did you know Wordfence runs a Bug Bounty Program for all WordPress plugin and themes at no cost to vendors? Researchers can earn up to $31,200 per vulnerability , for all in-scope vulnerabilities s… |
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Zone.ee Partners with Patchstack for Automatic WordPress ProtectionFeb 17 — We’re excited to announce a new partnership with Zone.ee , one of the leading hosting providers in the Baltics, known for delivering reliable infrastructure and user-friendly tools to businesses, d… |
Community
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DEV: .AU Over There! Yes, You!Feb 10 — Welcome to DEV, your fortnightly snapshot of what’s evolving across WordPress. We’ll meet you somewhere between “finished” and “shipping,” with the latest developments, ongoing experiments, and com… |
Plugins
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March Office Hours: Testing, testingFeb 18 — Join us for a transparent & feedback-driven office hours chat with testing guru, Greg Bell, and Lance Willet, Head of Quality Ops. 4 March March 4, 2026 15:00 – 16:00 UTC (10:00 EST) Join the meeti… |
How to Build a Multi-Agent AI WordPress Publishing TeamFeb 18 — I typed one sentence into a chat box last week. Then I watched three AI agents coordinate in real time to source images, write an article, and push a draft to WordPress. |
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Tips and tricks to write SEO-friendly blog posts in the AI eraFeb 10 — It is no secret that publishing SEO-friendly blog posts is one of the easiest and most effective ways to drive organic traffic and improve SERP rankings. Also read: How to use the Semrush related k… |
How buy now, pay later options can help your business growFeb 13 — Customers appreciate the option to pay in installments. For stores, this means more sales and better margins. |
Themes
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Exploring Divi 5’s New Top Bar UIFeb 18 — So even small changes to how it’s organized can shift the entire editing experience. Why The Divi 5 Top Bar Was Updated Here’s the previous top bar alongside the updated one. |
Tutorials
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How to Add a Markdown Version of Your WordPress Site (The Easy Way)Feb 18 — If you want your website to show up in AI search results, then you need to make sure that tools like ChatGPT and Claude can easily read your content. In this guide, I will show you how to add a Mar… |
Business
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Unlocking developer productivity: How Kinsta frees agencies from infrastructure headachesFeb 17 — In between, you’ll find various agencies, such as marketing and design-oriented digital boutiques, as well as production factories that focus on WordPress-based custom solutions and plugin or theme… |
Ensuring Stability and Security: WP Engine’s Legal Actions Against Matt Mullenweg and AutomatticFeb 11 — WP Engine is deeply grateful to the many partners and customers who stood by WP Engine in the face of last year’s unprecedented and unwarranted attacks and attempts to disrupt our platform. WP Engi… |
Wrapping Up
That covers the biggest stories from this week in WordPress. The ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly — from core development and community events to security patches and plugin innovations. Whether you’re a developer keeping up with API changes, a site owner watching for security updates, or a business owner exploring new tools, staying informed is key.
We’ll be back next Monday with another roundup. If you spotted a story we missed, have a tip, or just want to share your thoughts — drop a comment below. Until then, keep building. 🚀
