This Week in WordPress: Feb 17 – Feb 24, 2026
It’s been a busy week across the WordPress ecosystem. We tracked 18 noteworthy developments spanning Core Updates, Community, Security, Plugins, and more. Leading the news: WordPress 7.0 Beta 1. 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 20, 2026 · 9 min read
WordPress 7.0 Beta 1
WordPress 7.0 Beta 1 is ready for download and testing! This beta release is intended for testing and development only. Please do not install, run, or test this version of WordPress on production or mission-critical websites. Command Line Use this WP-CLI command: wp core update –version=7.0-beta1 WordPress Playground Use a 7.0 Beta 1 WordPress Playground instance to test the software directly in your browser. Your help testing Beta and RC versions is vital to making this release as stable and powerful as possible. WordPress 7.0 will include new features that were previously only available…
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Core Updates · February 24, 2026 · 3 min read Introducing Core Team Reps for 2026Now that the nominations process for Core Team Reps has concluded, we are pleased to announce that @amykamala has agreed to serve as Core Team Reps for 2026, with @audrasjb as a co-lead. As Amy was the only person who accepted her nomination, we won’t need to vote this year. Amy is currently working as a web developer for Swoosh Technologies, and is sponsored by Elementor to contribute to the WordPress Open Source Project”- and is so excited to be contributing to Core as a new team rep, a release coordinator, and to be a Hosting team rep again in 2026! Jb has led multiple maintenance and se… Continue Reading → |
Core Updates · February 20, 2026 · 1 min read
WordPress 7.0 Beta 1 delayed
WordPress 7.0 Beta 1 was originally scheduled to be released today (Thursday, February 19th) starting at 15:00 UTC. However, in preparing for the release party a number of Core unit test failures were identified in relation to the WP rest autosave controller and RTC tests in Gutenberg, and client side media processing work needed to be backported. The decision was made to delay the 7.0 Beta 1 release party to tomorrow, Friday, February 20th, 2026 at 15:00 UTC to allow time to resolve test failures and complete any necessary reviews and commits that can make Beta 1 the best it can be! The re…
Continue Reading →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…
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Community · February 20, 2026 · 4 min read Introducing WordCamp Mukono 2026: Sustainable Growth, Building a Lasting WordPress FutureThe WordPress community in Uganda is pleased to introduce WordCamp Mukono 2026 , scheduled for March 13 & 14, 2026 , at Murs Country Resort, Kigunga , in Mukono, Uganda. Guided by the theme “Sustainable Growth – Building a Lasting WordPress Future,” WordCamp Mukono 2026 will bring together over 300 attendees including WordPress users, contributors, code wranglers, developers, designers, educators, and business owners to explore how sustainable practices can strengthen the WordPress project, local communities, and the broader open-source ecosystem. A Focus on Sustainability and Long-Term Imp… Continue Reading → |
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Core Updates · February 19, 2026 · 8 min read How to add custom entries to the editor Preview dropdownSince WordPress 6.7 , plugin developers can extend the Preview dropdown in the editor with custom menu items. This is possible through the PluginPreviewMenuItem component from the @wordpress/editor package. This article walks through building a small plugin that adds a “Social Card Preview” option — showing how a post will look when shared on X. Social Card Preview example This plugin adds a Social Card Preview item to the Preview dropdown. ‘build/style-index.css’, array(), $asset[‘version’] ); } add_action( ‘enqueue_block_editor_assets’, ‘social_card_preview_enqueue_editor_assets’ ); This… Continue Reading → |
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Security · February 21, 2026 · 13 min read Wordfence Bug Bounty Program Monthly Report – January 2026Last month in January 2026, the Wordfence Bug Bounty Program received 897 vulnerability submissions from our growing community of security researchers working to improve the overall security posture of the WordPress ecosystem. These submissions are reviewed, triaged, and processed by the Wordfence Threat Intelligence team, with validated vulnerabilities responsibly disclosed to vendors, often through the Wordfence Vulnerability Management Portal – a free service for all WordPress vendors , and protected through the Wordfence Firewall where appropriate. Our mission with the Wordfence Bug Bou… 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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Plugins
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WooCommerce 10.6: What’s coming for developersFeb 24 — WooCommerce 10.6 is coming soon… The post will track the work we do as we prepare to release 10.6 as well as provide a preview of what’s to come in this new version. Release Schedule: WooCommerce 1… |
Themes
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How To Use Interactions, Canvases, And Portals Together (The Complete Workflow)Feb 23 — Canvases were recently introduced in Divi 5 , providing detached workspaces for building off-canvas menus, staging areas, modal popups, and more. Update the content in the source canvas, and every… |
Tutorials
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LGPD Compliance in WordPress: The Ultimate Guide for BeginnersFeb 23 — I remember reviewing my site analytics years ago and seeing a sudden burst of traffic from São Paulo. How to Improve Your LGPD Compliance in WordPress At its core, privacy compliance is really just… |
Business
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Join Cloudways at Affiliate World Global Dubai 2026Feb 23 — Affiliate World Global Dubai is almost here. Taking place on March 4-5, 2026, this is where the best minds in affiliate marketing, eCommerce, and digital marketing gather to share ideas and make ne… |
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Customers say we’re a great web host. G2 says we’re #1Feb 21 — So, we’re proud to announce that customer opinion has put Kinsta on top of the Web Hosting Products category in G2’s Best Software Awards for 2026. We’re a little smaller.) (Read the full press rel… |
How to Build a DXP Platform With WordPressFeb 20 — How to Build a DXP Platform With WordPress The growing complexity of customer journeys, which includes greater personalization opportunities and integrating data across an array of platforms, pushe… |
Core Updates
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Telex Updates: From Napkin Sketch to WordPress Block (and More)Feb 19 — When we launched Telex back in August, we invited everyone to experiment with AI-powered block creation. Since then, thousands of you have built blocks, shared feedback, and pushed the tool in dire… |
Accessibility Team Meeting Notes: February 12, 2026Feb 16 — On Thursday, February 12, 2026, 15:00 UTC , a team meeting started in #accessibility kicked of by Nasim Miah and later continued by Krupa Nanda . WordPress 7.0 Release Party Schedule WordPress 7.0… |
Security
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ManageWP Partners with Patchstack for Protection at ScaleFeb 19 — ManageWP has been making the lives of WordPress professionals and agencies easier for years within the GoDaddy ecosystem – helping them manage updates, backups, monitoring, and reporting at scale.… |
Community
Why WordPress Security Belongs at the Infrastructure Layer in 2026Feb 19 — WordPress security is shifting from plugins to infrastructure. With over 7,900 vulnerabilities discovered in 2024 and a third never patched, the traditional approach of stacking security plugins cr… |
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. 🚀
