Let’s start 2026 with learning and insights from 2025 with ‘yearly reviews’ from WordPress product creators & companies. This first issue of 2026 is packed with product updates and brand new launches, including GemBoards, QuillCRM, PhantomWP, Functionalities, Falcon, and more.
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What’s Buzzing in WordPress 💖
- Amelia Redesign… Booking plugin for WordPress, Amelia, is getting a new design with 9.0v, promising a new era of the booking experience for WordPress users. New design brings faster and cleaner UI – purpose-built for the way modern teams book, manage, and grow.
- Making Plugin Alive Again… Satinder Singh from Cool Plugins acquired an outdated plugin (LinkedIn) that had 50,000+ installs in 2021. However, the plugin feature was added to the Elementor core and made redundant. Now, with a new name, rebranding, and features – FormsDB for Elementor Forms is ‘alive’ in repo.
- New Functionalities Package… Gaurav Tiwari has released a free Functionalities plugin with module based structure to enable or disable specific features of: Link Management, Block Cleanup, Bloat Control, Header & Footer, Schema Settings, Custom Fonts, Icon Manager, and many more.
- New Falcon Optimizer… Anh Tran, creator of MetaBox, has released a free Falcon plugin (repo link) that brings together 49+ optimization modules in one place. It promises to speed up the website, clean up code, strengthen site security, and more.
New Launches: GemBoards, QuillCRM, PhantomWP
New GemBoards… the team behind Academy LMS has launched an all-new GemBoards plugin as an Agile project management platform for WordPress. It features visual boards, automation, and integrations to organize work and workflows.
New Quill CRM… the team behind Quill Forms has released an all-new Quill CRM for WordPress users. It promises to be a smart CRM solution with features like pipelines, campaigns, automations, analytics, and reports. The free version is available in the repository.
New PhantomWP… Ovidiu Maghetiu, creator of WP Code Box, has launched a new PhantomWP project (preview video). This promises to make the headless WordPress workflow feel straightforward: create a site, connect your front end, manage content, preview changes, and update.
Extended for Users of: Bricks & wpDataTables
Membership for Bricks… Pascal Basel has launched an all-new BricksMembers plugin, a membership & LMS plugin built specifically for Bricks Builder users. It allows you to sell courses, digital products, and protected content.
wpDataTables Enhanced Blocks… Zack Pyle has created an enhanced block for wpDataTables plugin users. It takes the plugin shortcode and renders it in an iframe right inside the block editor, so it looks exactly like it will on the frontend.
Page Builder Updates: Breakdance & Divi
Breakdance Button Presets… 2.6v has introduced the Button Presets feature for buttons and other elements containing buttons. Also, Design Presets now include a history panel that tracks every save and stores a revision.
Divi 5 HTML Wrappers… Divi5 has introduced Semantic Elements and Custom HTML Wrappers for finer control over element type. You can select among div, article, header, footer, and more.
Extended WordPress Buzz 🔥
- 2026 Release Schedule… Jonathan Desrosiers shared the proposed release schedule for WordPress is 2026. “While 2025 saw just two releases, the goal is to return to 3 major releases in 2026 (roughly one every 4 months)”. Proposed dates are: WP 7.0 (April 09, 2026), WP 7.1 (August 19, 2026), and WP 7.2 (December 08, 2026).
- Utilities for WordPress Plugins… Felix Arntz has open-sourced (LinkedIn) some personal utilities for WordPress plugin maintenance. Check these tools for simple things to speed up the workflow, such as bulk-bumping the Tested Up To WP version.
- Test Team 2026 Plans… in 2026, the Test Team plans to introduce clearer participation guidelines. “Earning ’emeritus’ status will be based on sustained and consistent contribution over time, rather than short-term or representative involvement alone”.
- Scholarship for WordCamp… WordCamp Kolhapur 2026 (India), is offering a Community Scholarship in the memory of Zeel Thakkar. There are 10 complimentary event tickets for girls and women who are unable to attend the event due to financial constraints.
- WordCamp EU Speakers & Tickets… the call for speakers is now open until January 31, 2026, for WordCamp Europe 2026, scheduled for June 4, 2026, in Kraków, Poland. You can submit an application for: Long talk (30 min), Lightning talk (10 min), Workshops (75 min), and Experimental 3-hour Workshops. Also, tickets for WordCamp Europe 2026 are now officially available.
- WP Milestones… the always free FluentSMTP plugin has crossed the 500,000+ installs milestone in the repository. The FluentCart plugin has crossed the 3,000+ active installs milestone in the repository.
- More Milestones… Rodrigo Donini shared about the CardPress project, for the WordPress community, reaching over 32k+ users in 2025. Also, the SiteSEO has now surpassed the 500k active installs.
Updates: Novashare, Accessibility Checks, Turnstile
Novashare… 1.6.4v has added a new share button for Mistral AI and changed the hidden Pinterest images to use image thumbnails for the src attribute instead of the full image to save on page load.
Block Accessibility Checks… 3.0v introduces a refined Validation API for a smoother and more integrated experience. The new Site Editor Toggle feature for quick on/off of specific validation checks.
Simple Cloudflare Turnstile… Elliot Sowersby has introduced a new Failsafe Mode option in 1.36.0v. So, if Cloudflare API is down, it will temporarily allow submissions or fall back to reCAPTCHA.
Product Updates:
Search & Replace Everything 1.0.9v… view and reuse your previous searches.
SEOPress 9.4v… added quick access icon for SEOPress in the Block Editor.
ACF Pro 6.8 Beta 1… added integration for the New WordPress Abilities API.
WP 2FA 3.1.0v… gets Passkeys support for passwordless authentication.
More Updates:
WP Travel Engine 6.7.0v… two new addons for waitlist, webhooks, and API.
Flashcards for WordPress 1.3.0v… brings the new flashcard editor page.
Gato AI Translations 15.3v… re-run failed translations much faster than before.
Quick Bits 👍
- Nat Miletic explains (Links X), ‘Why I am bullish on WordPress’.
- Check the WordPress Predictions for 2026, at The WP Minute.
- New Influencer Skin template for social creators by Themify.
- Do The Woo podcast relaunched with WooCommerce focus.
- Matt highlighted, in top 5K domains, WordPress share at 47%.
- Check the 2025 Website Traffic Trends Report, by WPEngine.
- WordPress & Beyond
- Three surprises when moving from WooCommerce to Shopify.
- Automattic’s Day One Journal with Zapier integration now.
- Google Sans & Google Sans Flex are now open source fonts.
- Let’s Learn
- Check the WordPress Security Handbook online, by Tài Hoàng.
- How to use WordPress Block Bindings API for dynamic sites.
- Extending Core Blocks with Interactivity, by JuanMa Garrido.
- How to add automated unit tests to your WordPress plugin.
- Making WordPress Plugins agent-ready, by Joost de Valk.
- WordPress Videos
- Optimize images using Affinity Studio, video by Brainstorm Force.
- Paul share five 5 WordPress plugins worth watching in 2026.
- People of WordPress
- Stephen Wolfram has joined as a special advisor to Automattic.
- Narek Torosyan has stepped into CEO role (LinkedIn) at 10Web.
2025 Review: WP Products & Companies
Year-end reviews are always interesting and insightful, with learning for the next year. Check a collection of year-end reviews from the WordPress space. If you have written one, use Submit Form for inclusion in the next issue.
- FluentCommunity’s amazing year with 25 updates & awards win.
- Bit Apps saw good products growth & 25+ new team members.
- Tutor LMS from 100k+ active installs to sponsoring WordCamps.
- Coupon Affiliates celebrated 10yrs & planned for 2026 updates.
- WPBakery’s 6 major releases & commitment to WP community.
- WP Tools
- WP Umbrella scaled to $1.3M ARR, & focus on the community.
- Freemius expanded beyond WordPress to the micro SaaS space.
- Woo Biz
- Barn2 launched 1st Shopify app & saw meaningful drop in sales.
- Wombat’s Woo Plugins saw 8% revenue growth & lower prices.
- WordPress AI
- James LePage on the amazing things achieved at Automattic AI.
- Jeffrey B. Paul on future of AI in WordPress from State of Word.
2025 Review: People of WordPress
Check 2025 yearly review from prominent voices in the WordPress space.
- Nathan Wrigley’s quick summary, 3 WordCamps & 12 Meetups.
- Syed Balki on 6 new products & investment in AI across the team.
- Rajendra Zore on real wins in family, health, and work spaces.
- Olga Gleckler on attending WordCamp, shooting a film, & people.
- James Giroux recap year as beyond WordPress but still WordPress.
- Elliot Sowersby on 100% focus on plugins biz, & no client services.
- James Kemp on ‘more in core’ for WooCommerce & accessibility.
- David Bisset shared (LinkedIn) on achieving goals for WP Charitable.
Web Hosting Buzz: BigScoots, FlyWP, & Hosting .com
BigScoots Proprietary Cache Feature… to fix the problem of caching logged-in sessions without affecting privacy, BigScoots has launched a proprietary Logged-In User Cache feature, promising fast speed for logged-in users.
FlyWP Akamai Support… FlyWP users can now deploy and provision servers directly on Akamai’s cloud infrastructure from within the FlyWP dashboard. No API key setup is required for this.
Hosting .com Bangladesh Launch… hosting .com website hosting services are launching in Bangladesh through a partnership with EyHost. The launch event will be held at the Sheraton Dhaka on January 14, 2026.
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