Category: tech

US election polls 2024: Who is ahead – Harris or Trump?  BBC.comTrump-Harris race neck and neck nationally in new survey, pollster sees ‘warning sign’ for Dems  Fox NewsKamala Harris Dealt Polling Blow in Pennsylvania Ahead of Trump Debate  NewsweekTrump and Harris Neck and Neck After Summer Upheaval, Times/Siena Poll Finds  The New York TimesKamala Harris’ Campaign Is Not Working  Slate

I spoke to people who have debated Harris and Trump. This is what they told me  The IndependentBobbleheads, Magic 8 Balls, chairs and other artifacts in the Smithsonian reveal the historical significance of presidential debates  The ConversationNoteworthy moments from previous Trump and Harris debates hold clues to their styles.  CNN

Apple must pay $14 billion tax bill to Ireland, EU court rules  AxiosIreland now needs to decide what it will do with 13 billion euros in back taxes from Apple  CNBCE.U. Top Court Rules That Apple Must Pay Billions In Back Taxes  ForbesGoogle and Apple Face Billions in Penalties After Losing E.U. Appeals  The New York TimesGoogle loses fight against $2.7 billion EU antitrust fine  Reuters

When I stepped in to run WordPress.com while Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg was on sabbatical, my mission was to make WordPress.com the best and fastest host for WordPress developers and agencies. We cheekily called this initiative “Developers, Developers, Developers,” a reference to a certain point in tech history (wink wink, nudge nudge).

Since then, we’ve shipped a number of developer-focused features like GitHub deployments, a full hosting dashboard, and Studio, an open source local development environment. It’s been awesome to see the feedback rolling in:

WordPress.com has been crucial to my agency’s growth. Its intuitive UI allows me to quickly create sleek, functional websites for my clients, and their reliable hosting and support enable me to rest easy, knowing my sites are in good hands. —Brian Lalli, President @ moonrooster.com

WordPress.com really stands out with its exceptional performance and strong security. It’s a versatile platform that’s great for users at any skill level, and their support team is always incredibly helpful. For managed sites, we definitely think WordPress.com is the way to go. —Sonia Gaballa, Partner @ nudge.design

We aimed to provide clients with a reliable hosting service we could endorse without hesitation, ultimately resulting in satisfied clients. We found that service with WordPress.com. —Ajit Bohra, Founder @ lubus.in

As we round the corner into the final quarter of 2024, I’d like to offer a sneak peek into three themes guiding our work: performance, augmentation, and workflows. We hope you’re just as excited about them as we are, and we welcome you to join us in the journey by testing and providing feedback.

Answers for the age-old question: “Why is my site slow?”

WordPress sites should be fast, and it’s not always an easy thing.

When writing custom code, incorporating third-party libraries, or inheriting an existing site, it can be difficult to track down what’s causing poor performance and low scores. Is it a certain plugin, large photo sizes, slow code, or a combination of the three?

Our upcoming speed test tool innovates upon existing approaches to offer a set of performance recommendations tailored to your unique WordPress site. It will be totally free to use, and you’ll be able to sign up for regular updates. These notifications will come in handy as you change plugins, properly size photos, and optimize code because you’ll be alerted if anything changes unexpectedly.

In the not-so-distant future, the speed test tool will also be directly integrated into your WordPress.com dashboard. You’ll be able to see your performance across all of your sites, and better understand correlations between site changes and performance.

Interested in a free site performance consultation? Connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter / X and I’d be happy to give you a demo!

Giving developers cybernetic powers

Large Language Models (LLMs) are transforming all types of knowledge work. Was that sentence written by me or ChatGPT? You’ll never know!

At WordPress.com, we think of LLMs as a powerful way to augment developers’ work and give them superhuman-like powers. They’re great at doing things for people—writing blog post outlines, generating code, and creating images—but we think they’re also great for teaching and educating. 

As one practical example, Studio is getting an AI assistant. The Studio Assistant is trained on WordPress-specific documentation and has access to a bunch of context about your site. When you ask it for help, like “update all my plugins using WP-CLI,” it will put together an answer based on your site specs as well as provide an explanation for the answer. 

Download Studio for free today, connect your WordPress.com account (free or paid), and hit me up on on LinkedIn or Twitter / X to get a sneak peek!

Speeding up your daily grind

When you’re developing on an open source platform like WordPress, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of different tools and workflows you can use to develop and ship websites. We’re focused on fostering quick and easy end-to-end workflows that help you deliver results that your clients love.

For example, you can now easily import sites into or export sites out of Studio. This is our first step towards a full, one-click WordPress.com syncing mechanism. Site cloning and a GitHub integration are also on our radar.

You also may have caught my tweet yesterday about our new Create Content Model prototype, which allows anyone to define custom post types and fields natively in the Block Editor.

“GAME CHANGING!” and “Incredible!” were two of the dozens of positive reactions. We hope that our prototype spurs productive conversations within the core community.

We’re also making it easier for you to make money. For example, through our Automattic for Agencies program, freelancers and agencies can create a custom cart with a hosting plan and/or plugins, and then send the link to the client to check out. No need to worry about handling client credit card information or billing clients separately—it’s all done within a slick, easy-to-use interface.

What do you want to see next?

This is just a quick preview of some of the big, impactful improvements you’ll be able to use soon as someone who hosts WordPress sites on WordPress.com. We’d love to know what other pain points you’d like to see us solve or features you’d like us to build! Either:

Leave a comment below.

Come see us at the WordPress.com booth at WordCamp US next week.

Connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter/X.

Original illustrations from David Neal (aka Reverent Geek). Come get a free avatar from him at the WordPress.com booth at WCUS next week!

We are thrilled to announce that Djangonaut Space, a mentorship program, is open for applicants for our next cohort!

Djangonaut Space is holding a third session this year! This session will start on October 14th, 2024. We are accepting applications until September 14th, 2024. More details can be found in the website.

Djangonaut Space is a free, 8-week group mentoring program where individuals will work self-paced in a semi-structured learning environment. It seeks to help members of the community who wish to level up their current Django code contributions and potentially take on leadership roles in Django in the future.

“I signed up for this program with the goal of starting my journey as a contributor, but I ended up gaining so much more. In this community, I found incredible people who not only guide you toward solutions but also encourage and celebrate every achievement along the way.” – Raffaella, Djangonaut

If you have questions, they are holding an AMA session on Zoom next week. See their social media account for more details:

Twitter/X
Mastodon

John Kostak has been building websites for longer than most social media networks have even been around. So splashy features don’t interest him much—he’s far more into performance, reliability, and compatibility. Which is why he and his company, Web Development USA, have been using WordPress.com from the start. 

In this fun Q&A, John shares more about his WordPress journey, what matters most to him as a developer, and a few of his favorite sites (in spite of the fact that it was like making him pick his favorite child). Note: The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

If John’s love for WordPress.com has you reconsidering your current hosting environment, you can learn more about our specs and get started at WordPress.com/hosting. 

Jeremy: How long have you been using WordPress and WordPress.com?

John: I have been building websites for about 15 or 16 years and started in a corporate environment for a large company. We never had an internal digital team and we basically created our own digital agency within this big corporate company. And that was pretty innovative back then. 

Then out of that, I spun off and started Web Development USA. That began in 2015, and so next year will be our 10th year, which is crazy to think about. But it went quickly because we really do enjoy this. And we look for people who find this to be a passion, as we do. 

Jeremy: Have you been using WordPress.com the entire time?

John: Yes we have. We started doing some testing with SiteGround and Elementor hosting, but we still like WordPress.com the best. You know you can go through a McDonald’s three miles away or 10,000 miles away on the other side of the planet and your lunch is going to be reasonably what you expect. That’s what WordPress.com feels like with its consistency and the familiarity of the UI and getting around. 

Jeremy: What do you like most about WordPress.com? Is it about ease of use on your side as a builder? Convenience for the customer? Both?

John: Resiliency. With Jetpack at the core and all the updates that it does, we just don’t have that much of a risk of things exploding, especially when we bring contractors in and out. We can always fall back to a previous state, and we have an exact record of it. We can get into PHP code. We can get into the very, very back end if we want. We can really be dangerous if we want, without being too afraid of it. 

Overall, it is certainly the all-around performance, security, and cadence that you use for backing up sites. 

Jeremy: What are some of your favorite features when building sites on WordPress? Do you have go-to themes, blocks, plugins, etc.?

John: Well, it’s changed over the years. We used to use standard old-school wireframe and theme templates that were very basic. And then we went into more “custom designer” mode, I would say, with templates and flashy designs. We graduated from Walmart t-shirts to Gucci t-shirts. And, you know, we enjoyed that for a while. 

Now we’re going back to robust wireframes and doing more from scratch. What’s more important now is really the entire stack, including performance and compatibility. You know, we just don’t have time to troubleshoot when we have some whizzy feature on the site. We don’t have time to go in and look for why the thing is down. So, we are sort of simplifying certain things and then standardizing on a certain stack.

Jeremy: What excites you about the future of WordPress.com? Are there any new features you’re especially excited to try out and use?

John: Honestly, we just don’t have time to get into a lot of that. We don’t look much to experimental features or anything like that. We’re trusting that by the time the feature or tool makes its way into being a standard of WordPress, it will be tried and true. We’re not looking for early adopter types of things anymore. 

The reality is that our value add is more about custom coding for integrations—maybe for a particular reservation system that has to shake hands and stay for a while on the site before it goes out to a third-party point of sale. It takes some custom coding there. That’s where our focus has really been—managed services and then a lot more programming. We’ve been onboarding more programmers in the last 18 months than we did the first eight years of the company.

Jeremy: Do you have a few favorite client sites that you can share?

John: Well, Jeremy, it’s like asking you who’s your favorite child. 

Jeremy: Depending on the week, I can give you a pretty good answer.

John: Yeah, that’s a good point! Sure, I have a few:

TuckMusic.com

appalachian-air.com

kdmconsults.com

Get started at WordPress.com today 

Even though WordPress.com provides the freedom and tools to create stunningly beautiful and innovative websites, that’s not why developers choose us. Folks like John Kostak rely on WordPress.com because we have the most performant, secure, and compatible infrastructure out there. If you made it this far, you already know that you don’t have to take our word for it. 

Learn more about our top-notch hosting and get started: 

Since moving PostSecret to WordPress.com in 2013, Frank Warren’s iconic platform has empowered millions to share their secrets in a safe place. In the last ten years, that simple mission has propelled PostSecret to become one of the most highly trafficked ad-free blogs on the planet. In this video, Frank dives into the origins of his project and how Automattic’s tools help bring the mission to life.

Learn more about PostSecret and get an exclusive coupon when you click below:

Or, apply coupon code PostSecret15 at checkout for 15% off any plan.

In accordance with our security release policy, the Django team
is issuing releases for
Django 5.1.1,
Django 5.0.9, and
Django 4.2.16.
These releases address the security issues detailed below. We encourage all
users of Django to upgrade as soon as possible.

Dika Fei, like most founders, had a couple ideas that failed before hitting just the right note when he started his web development company, Jelly Pixel Studio. With a team of seven, Jelly Pixel Studio specializes in crafting unique and illustrative websites for a variety of clients worldwide. 

I had the chance to talk with Dika about why he loves WordPress.com, a few of his favorite tools, and examples of projects he’s most proud of. 

If Dika’s high praise convinces you to give WordPress.com another look, you can learn more about our specs and get started at WordPress.com/hosting. 

1. How long have you been working with WordPress and WordPress.com?

I’ve been working with WordPress for about 10 years now. When I first started, it was a bit like jumping into a lake and hoping there were no crocodiles! Back then, it wasn’t as obvious which CMS to choose. Joomla and Drupal were still pretty big, and it wasn’t clear that WordPress would be the best option. But we chose WordPress because it seemed more straightforward, and I’m so glad we made that decision. It was the right one. 

2. What do you like most about using WordPress.com for your clients?

If I knew nothing about it, I’d say WordPress.com works like magic! The uptime of websites on WordPress.com is often 100%, which really surprised me, especially compared to other hosting servers. It’s incredibly stable and scalable at a price point that’s hard to beat. 

Jelly Pixel is also part of Automattic for Agencies, and it’s impressive how the system scales, like running 10 CPUs that can go up to 100 when needed.

It’s a true “set it and forget it” experience in the WordPress industry. Let me know where you get your magic pixie dust from! 

3. What are your favorite tools or themes to use in your projects?

I love using GeneratePress and Advanced Custom Fields (ACF). 

GeneratePress is a lightweight theme that supports different approaches to web development, including full site editing. It’s a great starter theme for developers. 

Advanced Custom Fields is a well-known plugin, and I particularly appreciate how it now allows you to create Gutenberg blocks easily, handling the backend UI for you.

4. What recent WordPress features or updates are you excited about?

I’m really excited about the Interactivity API enabling more dynamic and interactive site features, akin to what we see with React. It’s still in its early days, but I think we’ll see more adoption soon.

5. What’s most important to you when building a WordPress site?

Stability and security are my top priorities. One of the biggest factors there is having a secure hosting environment. Many security issues come from improperly configured hosting, but with WordPress.com, you don’t have to worry about that. The secure server setup handles every vulnerability for you, which is a huge relief.

6. Can you share a few of your favorite client sites? Why do they stand out to you?

Ambient Lounge Japan, for its amazing product customization feature.

Workprint LA, for its overall design.

CNIB Access Labs, as a fully accessible and beautifully designed site. 

Get started at WordPress.com today

Beyond our customization options and extensability, what keeps Dika Fei and Jelly Pixel Studio using WordPress.com are our rock-solid security and performance specs. Those foundational aspects of developing and hosting sites can get overlooked amidst glitzy marketing campaigns. If you’re as impressed with our uptime as Dika, get started building today: 

We are looking for the next group of organizers to own and lead the 2026 DjangoCon Europe conference. Could your town – or your football stadium, circus tent, private island or city hall – host this wonderful community event?

DjangoCon Europe is a major pillar of the Django community, as people from across the world meet and share. This includes many qualities that make it a unique event – unconventional and conventional venues, creative happenings, a feast of talks and a dedication to inclusion and diversity.

Hosting a DjangoCon is an ambitious undertaking. It’s hard work, but each year it has been successfully run by a team of community volunteers, not all of whom have had previous experience – more important is enthusiasm, organizational skills, the ability to plan and manage budgets, time and people – and plenty of time to invest in the project.

For 2026, we want to kickstart the organization much earlier than in previous years to allow more flexibility for the organizing team, and open up more opportunities for support from our DjangoCon Europe support working group.

Step 1: Submit your expression of interest

If you’re considering organizing DjangoCon Europe (🙌 great!), fill in our DjangoCon Europe 2026 expression of interest form with your contact details. No need to fill in all the information at this stage if you don’t have it all already, we’ll reach out and help you figure it out.

Express your interest in organizing

Step 2: We’re here to help!

We’ve set up a DjangoCon Europe support working group of previous organizers that you can reach out to with questions about organizing and running a DjangoCon Europe.

The group will be in touch with everyone submitting the expression of interest form, or you can reach out to them directly: [email protected]

We’d love to hear from you as soon as possible, so your proposal can be finalized and sent to the DSF board by October 6th 2024. The selected hosts will be publicly announced at DjangoCon Europe 2025 by the current organizers.

Step 3: Submitting the proposal

The more detailed and complete your final proposal is, the better. Basic details include:

Organizing committee members: You won’t have a full team yet, probably, naming just some core team members is enough.
The legal entity that is intended to run the conference: Even if the entity does not exist yet, please share how you are planning to set it up.
Dates: See “What dates are possible in 2026?” below. We must avoid conflicts with major holidays, EuroPython, DjangoCon US, and PyCon US.
Venue(s), including size, number of possible attendees, pictures, accessibility concerns, catering, etc.
Transport links and accommodation: Can your venue be reached by international travelers?
Budgets and ticket prices: Talk to the DjangoCon Europe Support group to get help with this, including information on past event budgets.

We also like to see:

Timelines
Pictures
Plans for online participation, and other ways to make the event more inclusive and reduce its environmental footprint
Draft agreements with providers
Alternatives you have considered

Have a look at our proposed (draft, feedback welcome) DjangoCon Europe 2026 Licensing Agreement for the fine print on contractual requirements and involvement of the Django Software Foundation.

Submit your completed proposal by October 6th 2024 via our DjangoCon Europe 2026 expression of interest form, this time filling in as many fields as possible. We look forward to reviewing great proposals that continue the excellence the whole community associates with DjangoCon Europe.

Q&A

Can I organize a conference alone?

We strongly recommend that a team of people submit an application.

I/we don’t have a legal entity yet, is that a problem?

Depending on your jurisdiction, this is usually not a problem. But please share your plans about the entity you will use or form in your application.

Do I/we need experience with organizing conferences?

The support group is here to help you succeed. From experience, we know that many core groups of 2-3 people have been able to run a DjangoCon with guidance from previous organizers and help from volunteers.

What is required in order to announce an event?

Ultimately, a contract with the venue confirming the dates is crucial, since announcing a conference makes people book calendars, holidays, buy transportation and accommodation etc. This, however, would only be relevant after the DSF board has concluded the application process. Naturally, the application itself cannot contain any guarantees, but it’s good to check concrete dates with your venues to ensure they are actually open and currently available, before suggesting these dates in the application.

Do we have to do everything ourselves?

No. You will definitely be offered lots of help by the community. Typically, conference organizers will divide responsibilities into different teams, making it possible for more volunteers to join. Local organizers are free to choose which areas they want to invite the community to help out with, and a call will go out through a blog post announcement on djangoproject.com and social media.

What kind of support can we expect from the Django Software Foundation?

The DSF regularly provides grant funding to DjangoCon organizers, to the extent of $6,000 in recent editions. We also offer support via specific working groups:

The dedicated DjangoCon Europe support working group.
The social media working group can help you promote the event.
The Code of Conduct working group works with all event organizers.

In addition, a lot of Individual Members of the DSF regularly volunteer at community events. If your team aren’t Individual Members, we can reach out to them on your behalf to find volunteers.

What dates are possible in 2026?

For 2026, DjangoCon Europe should happen between January 5th and April 27th, or June 4th and June 28th. This is to avoid the following community events’ provisional dates:

PyCon US 2026: May 2026
EuroPython 2026: July 2026
DjangoCon US 2026: September – October 2026
DjangoCon Africa 2026: August – September 2026

We also want to avoid the following holidays:

New Year’s Day: Wednesday 1st January 2026
Chinese New Year: Tuesday 17th February 2026
Eid Al-Fitr: Friday 20th March 2026
Passover: Wednesday 1st – Thursday 9th April 2026
Easter: Sunday 5th April 2026
Eid Al-Adha: Tuesday 26th – Friday 29th May 2026
Rosh Hashanah: Friday 11th – Sunday 13th September 2026
Yom Kippur: Sunday 20th – Monday 21st September 2026

What cities or countries are possible?

Any city in Europe. This can be a city or country where DjangoCon Europe has happened in the past (Vigo, Edinburgh, Porto, Copenhagen, Heidelberg, Florence, Budapest, Cardiff, Toulon, Warsaw, Zurich, Amsterdam, Berlin), or a new locale.

References

Past calls

Interested in organizing DjangoCon Europe 2016?
Could you host DjangoCon Europe 2017?
DjangoCon Europe 2019 – where will it be?
Could you host DjangoCon Europe 2023?
Last Chance for a DjangoCon Europe 2023