Learn to the tip to search out out what occurs when a cat lastly catches the laser pointer beam…

In right this moment’s version:

Press Paws: WPMU DEV now hosts the biggest help neighborhood for three-legged pets and their people.
Would you decide to a website identify that’s assured to survive you?
WordPress 6.8 will lastly use bcrypt for password hashing, addressing a 13 12 months previous ticket.

Sizzling Off The Presses: What’s New?

Social media post humorously comparing bad computer posture to Quasimodo.

To all you people hunched over your laptops like medieval bellringers, we salute you. The tech trade would possibly promise us the long run, however our posture is firmly caught within the 1400s.

Take a second to stretch out your backbone, and let’s dive into what’s new in WordPress.

WPMU DEV Now Hosts The World’s Largest Three-Legged Pet Neighborhood

Discovering out that the one that you love four-legged buddy is about to turn out to be the one that you love three-legged buddy is fairly devastating information, however Jim Nelson constructed a website that helps pet dad and mom of amputee cats and canines really feel rather less alone.

The Tripawds multisite community hosts greater than 2,100 three-legged canine and cat blogs, with quite a few assets to assist folks dealing with a limb most cancers diagnoses or amputation for his or her pet.

They determined to check out our internet hosting as a result of their earlier host simply wasn’t slicing it, and so they have not too long ago migrated ALL their websites to the WPMU DEV internet hosting platform. Now all the pieces’s operating as easily as this majestic Irish Wolfhound and we’re so thrilled to help this wonderful neighborhood!

To study extra (and meet Tripawd’s Chief Enjoyable Officer Jerry G. Dawg) try the weblog submit.

Completely happy WP Writer Success Week, Everybody!

WP Writer Success Week is again for it’s second 12 months and it’s taking place proper now! The free digital occasion will run till Friday the twenty eighth and this time it’s tackling the stuff that retains us all up at night time —WordPress migrations, safety and AI.

Hosted by State of Digital Publishing and sponsored by Multidots, you’ll be able to count on deep dives on migrating with out pulling your hair out, insights on safety at an enterprise scale, plus periods on AI’s rising position in publishing. Some fairly essential publishers attended final 12 months’s occasion, together with the BBC, The Hindu and Harvard College

Right here’s what you’ll be able to nonetheless catch in the direction of the tip of the week:

Wed Feb 26: Web site migrations with out the complications. Whether or not you’re leaping ship from one other CMS or simply shifting servers, that is your probability to study from individuals who’ve been there, damaged that, and lived to inform the story. The panel Web site Migration Necessities will function Kyle Sutton (The Factors Man), Shelby Blackley (The Athletic and WTF is web optimization?) and Bryan David (The Related Press).
Thurs Feb 27: Scaling up whereas staying safe. Dan Knauss from Multidots hosts a workshop on greatest practices for holding WordPress on lockdown, particularly with regards to securing giant enterprise-scale websites.
Fri Feb 28: AI: The great, the unhealthy, and the “wait, did a bot write this?” Publishers are nonetheless determining the place AI suits into their workflow, and this occasion guarantees real-world case research and moral greatest practices. Day 5’s panel Unlocking AI Potential for Media Publishers: Actual-World Methods and Insights will embody Pete Pachal (The Media Copilot) and Matt Karolian (The Boston Globe).

For more information and to seize your go for any of the remaining talks, you’ll be able to go to State of Digital Publishing.

Lock In a URL for Your Nice-Grandkids? WordPress.com Now Affords 100 12 months Domains

It’s exhausting to think about what the web, or certainly society itself will seem like in 100 years. However if you happen to’re so dedicated to your web site area that you simply wish to depart it in your will to your great-grandkids, WordPress.com has expanded their 100 12 months Internet hosting providing to incorporate a domain-only plan.

The 100-12 months Plan was initially launched in 2023, and for a one-time cost of $38k it included managed WordPress internet hosting, a number of backups, submission to the Web Archive, 24/7 devoted help and a website identify for a full century.

However now there’s a brand new choice to buy the area itself independently of internet hosting, for a one-off payment of $2,000. Usually domains can solely be registered for 10 years at a time on account of ICANN laws, however this selection automates renewals so that you’ll by no means unintentionally lose your area since you missed the renewal date.

Each the $38k internet hosting plan and the $2k area plan are an enormous wager on what the way forward for the online will seem like. Who’s to say that URLs will nonetheless be the best way we determine net addresses a long time from now? Will there even be web sites 100 years from now? Will all of us be combating one another with sticks in a submit apocalyptic wasteland? Who’s to say!

Both manner, it’s a fairly wild provide contemplating everybody concerned within the unique deal will certainly not be alive in 100 years, until there’s some type of secret immortality juice the WordPress.com crew has been ingesting.

Oh that jogs my memory, my great-grandad’s 100-year telegram help package deal is about to run out… higher get on that.

WordPress is Lastly Upgrading Password Safety (13 Years Later)

Excellent news for anybody who’s ever had their WordPress website hacked as a result of their password was one thing like “password123” (we’re judging you, however just a bit).

WordPress 6.8 is beefing up safety by switching to bcrypt for password hashing—aka the factor that scrambles your password so hackers can’t simply steal it.

And get this: this improve closes out a Trac ticket that’s been open for 13 years. Yep, greater than a decade of numerous safety discussions, and an enormous quantity of labor by WordPress Core Safety Workforce rep John Blackbourn, a Human Made-sponsored core committer, lastly made it occur.

For those who don’t spend your free time desirous about cryptographic algorithms (bizarre flex, however okay), right here’s why this issues:

Bcrypt is stronger. The previous system (MD5-based hashing) has been round because the early 90s, again when folks thought dial-up web was the long run. Hackers have had a long time to crack it. Bcrypt, then again, is far more immune to brute-force assaults.
It slows down hackers. Bcrypt is designed to be computationally costly, that means it takes longer to run by potential password combos. If somebody tries to brute-force their manner into your WordPress admin, they’ll have a really unhealthy time.
Future-proofing. The brand new system permits for simpler safety upgrades afterward, so we received’t be caught utilizing historic encryption strategies perpetually. Unsure about 100 years from now, however hey!

This can be a win for WordPress safety, and it’s about time. The perfect half? You don’t should do something. WordPress will robotically improve your password hashing the following time you log in. No have to manually reset your password, until you’re nonetheless utilizing “password123.” By which case… simply repair that already. Please.

A big shoutout to everybody who pushed this throughout the end line. Now, if solely we might get everybody to activate two-factor authentication…

Thoughts Bloggling Information & Stats

Lawrence Ladomery from WPBiz Dev identified that the native speaker illustration at WordCamp Asia 2025 has decreased 2% since final 12 months’s occasion. Solely 38% of audio system are from the area, regardless of efforts to draw extra locals and a objective of 60% native illustration. (Supply)
Talking of WordCamp Asia 2025, the “Human Library” was a standout function. 16 skilled “books” have been obtainable and a complete of 64 periods have been “borrowed.” You possibly can meet the “books” right here! (Supply)
Patchstack disclosed a crucial privilege escalation vulnerability within the KLEO theme’s companion plugin, which has 23,000 gross sales on Themeforest. For those who’re a kind of 23k, replace to model 5.4.0 ASAP! (Supply)

Blogs & Sources You Shouldn’t Miss

Is counting on AI rotting your crucial pondering expertise? This Microsoft research says so. (We dare you to NOT ask AI to summarize it for you.)

Talking of AI, Weglot, Rank Math and WP Rocket are conducting a survey exploring AI’s influence on web optimization practices. You possibly can share your ideas right here. Members get first entry to the outcomes.

Kyle Van Deusen from the Admin Bar has some nice tips about the best way to qualify leads – as a result of who has time for tire-kickers?

On the Put up Standing Happiness Hour, Michelle Frecette & Jono Alderson talk about the environmental influence of storing giant or redundant pictures in your website – and what you are able to do about it.

Bob Dunn has launched a brand new Do The Woo, together with a YouTube channel, a homepage redesign and Cami MacNamara as a brand new host.

There’s loads of Worldwide Ladies’s Day occasions arising within the WordPress world, together with Tech For Her Delhi in India, WordPress HERoes at WordCamp Mukono, Uganda and EmpowerWP in Bhopal, India. We like to see it!