And just like that, 2024 is almost over! If your finances allow, donate to the Django Software Foundation to support the long-term future of Django.

Donate to support Django

Other ways to give

• Official merchandise store – Buy official t-shirts, accessories, and more to support Django.
• Sponsor Django via GitHub Sponsors.
• Benevity Workplace Giving Program – If your employer participates, you can make donations to the DSF via payroll deduction.

Why give to the Django Software Foundation?

Our main focus is direct support of Django’s developers. This means:

• Organizing and funding development sprints so that Django’s developers can meet in person.
• Helping key developers attend these sprints and other community events by covering travel expenses to official Django events.
• Providing financial assistance to community development and outreach projects such as Django Girls.
• Providing financial assistance to individuals so they can attend major conferences and events.
• Funding the Django Fellowship program, which provides full-time staff to perform community management tasks in the Django community.

Still curious? See our Frequently Asked Questions about donations.

Spam bots and denial-of-service attacks are a reality for many website owners. Depending on timing and scale, they can be an annoyance or a detriment to your business’s bottom line. Services like Cloudflare, Fastly, and Vercel are popular choices for mitigating these attacks with sophisticated techniques beyond the firewall rules many hosts (WordPress.com included) employ to examine and potentially block incoming traffic.

WordPress.com’s defensive mode introduces similar, sophisticated DDoS protection that further enhances your site’s security. It works by issuing proof-of-work challenges to browsers visiting the site. Legitimate users will briefly see a challenge page while their browser completes the work before accessing the site. The feature is powered by our global edge network, but it can still be enabled independently of our global edge cache feature.

What is defensive mode?

If you notice an inordinate amount of traffic to your website that is slowing it down, this setting filters spam traffic by requesting that they complete a proof-of-work challenge. When visitors come to your website for the first time, they will see the following screen:

This proof-of-work challenge page has a unique random puzzle embedded in it, along with JavaScript that can solve the puzzle. The puzzles are designed to take a typical CPU a few seconds to solve, and they deter botnets, which are not able to run the scripts to solve the puzzles.

How to enable it

This system protects all sites hosted on WordPress.com. Sites on Free, Personal, and Premium hosting plans are managed for you. For sites on Business or Commerce hosting plans, this setting can also be managed manually from your site’s Hosting Dashboard.

Here’s how to enable it:

1. Visit your Sites page by clicking on the WordPress logo in the upper left corner of your dashboard.
2. Click on your site title.
3. Click on the “Server Settings” tab on the site overview page.
4. Scroll down to the Defensive mode section.
5. Select a duration and click the “Enable defensive mode” button

Note that WordPress.com staff may proactively enable defensive mode on your behalf, regardless of what hosting plan you have, if your site is attacked.

Get it all on WordPress.com

Many hosts charge extra for capabilities like this, or they require integration with a third-party provider. On WordPress.com, defensive mode is included on every plan and can be managed manually on Business and Commerce plans.

This is just one more reason why WordPress.com stands out as the premier managed host for WordPress sites. With staging sites, SSH and WP-CLI access, or GitHub deployments, we’re always working on new tools to make WordPress.com an essential component of your development workflow. 

What other features would you like to see on WordPress.com? How can we make WordPress.com an even more powerful place to build a website? Let us know in the comments below.

Having a well-designed, functional website helps you reach a broader audience, build credibility, and connect meaningfully with customers or followers. In today’s digital-first world, your website is often the first impression you make, and right now is the time to make it count.

Why now? Black Friday savings, of course!

Until December 2nd, save 25% on the first year of any new annual hosting plan from WordPress.com.

Why having a reliable website matters 

There are many reasons a website is important. Let’s take a look at three that impact the relationship you can build with your audience:

Trust and credibility 

We live in an “informed consumer” society and having a website allows you to share important details about your business or products. Your customers look for a website to help them form opinions, understand your offerings, and ultimately make a purchase decision. If you don’t have one, it can raise questions of legitimacy and cause your customers to look elsewhere for the products or services they require. 

User experience 

Your WordPress.com website gives you full control over how people experience your brand. A well-organized site not only sets the right tone but also makes it easy for visitors to find what they need, continuing to build trust and showing your commitment to a positive experience.

Accessibility and convenience

The internet never closes or sleeps. With a website, your audience has 24/7 access to everything you offer—any time, from anywhere. 

Putting your audience first is essential to your success. 

This is why our Black Friday sale is about so much more than the 25% savings you’ll receive on the first year of any new, annual hosting plan. 

Why WordPress.com?

Choosing WordPress.com as your website host means choosing a team committed to your success. Our self-help resources, AI Assistant, and Happiness Engineers are all focused on helping you be successful with your website. 

Our managed WordPress hosting also offers unmetered visitors, unmatched speed, and unstoppable security for one low price. With WordPress.com, you always have what you need to get online (and stay online) so you can grow your audience.

And if you take advantage of our Black Friday sale before December 2nd, you get even more with your purchase:

• 25% off any new, annual hosting plan
• A free custom domain for one year
• Expert support from our Happiness Engineers

What’s possible on WordPress.com

WordPress is a powerful and flexible website building platform, and WordPress.com gives you that functionality alongside powerful, secure, and scalable managed hosting. Whether you want a simple blog, a complex eCommerce store, or anything in-between, WordPress.com is the right hosting platform for you. 

Check out what’s possible on WordPress.com in our demo site showcase:

How to unlock powerful WordPress hosting

Ready to get started with WordPress.com? We thought you might be.

Click the button below to learn more about each of our plans, choose the right plan for you, and purchase your discounted hosting plan. Your 25% off discount will apply automatically at checkout.

Frequently asked questions

What if I change my mind, can I get a refund?

Absolutely. We offer a risk-free, 14-day money back guarantee on annual plans. 

Can I use a domain I already own?

For sure. You can transfer or connect your domain and we can guide you on the steps as needed. 

Can I migrate an existing site?

Absolutely. Whether your existing site is built with WordPress or another platform, we have guides available to walk you through the process. We also offer free migrations of WordPress sites. And yes, our Black Friday offer applies to site migrations too.

Is this offer available on renewals or upgrades?

No, this discount only applies to new annual plans. Current users can, however, use this offer if they’re adding a new plan or site.

How do renewals work?

Our Black Friday offer gives you a 25% discount off the first year of your hosting plan. Our annual plans automatically renew 30-days prior to your expiry date at the regular full price. 

Sign up today to take advantage of powerful managed WordPress hosting from WordPress.com and save 25% on the annual plan of your choice.

This offer expires on December 2nd, 2024.

Following our announcement of the 6.x Steering Council elections, today we open candidate registrations. Registrations will be open until December 4 2024 at 23:59 Anywhere on Earth.

Register as a Steering Council candidate

Eligibility

Candidate eligibility requirements are defined in DEP 12: The Steering Council. To be qualified for elections, we require both of the following:

• A history of substantive contributions to Django or the Django ecosystem. This history must begin at least 18 months prior to the individual’s candidacy for the Steering Council, and include substantive contributions in at least two of these bullet points:
  • Code contributions on Django projects or major third-party packages in the Django ecosystem
  • Reviewing pull requests and/or triaging Django project tickets
  • Documentation, tutorials or blog posts
  • Discussions about Django on the django-developers mailing list or the Django Forum
  • Running Django-related events or user groups
• A history of engagement with the direction and future of Django. This does not need to be recent, but candidates who have not engaged in the past three years must still demonstrate an understanding of Django’s changes and direction within those three years.

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If you have questions about the election please contact [email protected] or ask on the Django forum.

When you’re building a WordPress website, there are some essential elements you likely want to include, such as a contact form. However, limiting your use of forms to your contact page is a missed opportunity to increase leads, boost engagement, and enhance the overall user experience (UX) on your site.

There are many ways you can use forms on your WordPress site beyond providing visitors with a contact method. From collecting user feedback to generating leads and expanding your mailing list, forms offer dynamic and convenient ways to drive conversions.

In this post, we’ll start by discussing the role forms play in WordPress and how they can help you collect valuable information. Then we’ll introduce you to eight creative ways to use them on your site with some tips for making them effective.

Note: We’ve saved the most surprising ways for the end, so keep reading!

An introduction to using forms on your WordPress site

When most people think of website forms, they likely think of contact forms. These simple, embedded features let your visitors enter basic information to get in touch with you:

However, the use of online forms extends far beyond contact points. These documents allow you to easily and conveniently collect a wide variety of information from users and visitors directly from your website. You can also use them across other channels such as email and social media.

Website forms are beneficial because they provide straightforward ways of collecting lead-generating data that you can store and use in the future. Therefore, forms are essential tools to help you with marketing, sales, and promotions. 

Another benefit of using forms on your WordPress site is that creating and embedding them is quick and easy. There are several plugins you can use to build forms if you require different functionality. 

If you’re looking to create a standard form, you can also use the Form block on WordPress.com, which is powered by the Jetpack plugin (which is included on every WordPress.com website):

Six creative examples of forms you can create right now

Now that we understand more about the role forms play in websites, let’s look at their different use cases. Below are six creative ways to use forms on your WordPress site, aside from your contact page. 

1. Run fun contests and giveaways

Running contests and giveaways on your website is an excellent way to boost engagement. Giving away freebies can help promote your brand and spread awareness about specific products and offerings. 

To make it as simple as possible for your customers to enter the contest, you can use an embedded or pop-up form to collect their information, such as names and email addresses:

This form provides you with customer contact information that you can use for future campaigns. People will be more likely to hand over their details when they know they have a chance to win something in return. 

2. Register users for memberships and events

If you run a membership site or host events, you can use website forms to make user registration a breeze:

You can also utilize them for event registration, such as an upcoming webinar. Like a giveaway, this can be an effective lead-generation technique because you’re giving users something in exchange for their contact details.

3. Conduct user and reader surveys

Curious to know what your readers or customers think about a topic? Use a questionnaire and find out! You can easily create a poll or survey using Crowdsignal, our service for creating surveys and polls. Get started with a free account and learn how to set it up:

You can also effortlessly capture insights from your audience by creating a simple poll using the Poll block:

4. Let users sign up for your mailing list

Email marketing is a powerful way to grow your audience, expand brand awareness, and increase engagement. However, figuring out how to grow your subscriber list can be challenging.

One way to expand your subscriber list is by embedding a newsletter signup form on your website. It lets you easily capture the email addresses of your visitors:

One of the benefits of signup forms is that there are so many different areas you can place them. For example, you can insert them in the header or footer of your website. This placement ensures the forms are easily accessible no matter which pages your users are on. 

You can also use forms as exit-intent pop-ups. For example, as visitors are about to leave your website, you can have the signup form appear with a convenient Call To Action (CTA).

5. Enable applicants to apply for jobs

Recruiting and hiring new talent is a staple in any successful business. However, the application process you use can influence the number of applicants and the quality.

Today, many job seekers want a quick and convenient way to apply to jobs they’re interested in. To make the process as convenient as possible for your prospects, you can add a form on your website that enables potential employees to apply to open positions:

You can embed these forms directly below the job descriptions. Plus, you can enable applicants to attach documents, such as resumes and cover letters. This feature eliminates the number of steps users must complete to submit their information for different positions. 

Using a form also helps you keep all the necessary information of applicants in one place for easy access. This can streamline the vetting process and, ultimately, help you find the most qualified applicants.

6. “Name It!” campaign – involve users in product decisions

Raise your hand if you’ve ever eagerly suggested a name for someone’s new puppy, or your local zoo’s newborn giraffe. Users love feeling useful, so give them a fun job. Create a form that allows visitors to suggest a name for your latest product or mascot. An entire viral campaign can sometimes emerge simply from a “name this” campaign. 

A few simple tips for creating effective website forms

Once you decide to create a particular type of website form, the next step is to build it. As we mentioned earlier, there are various tools you can use to do so. 

However, regardless of which plugin you use to create your forms, there are some essential tips to keep in mind to ensure effectiveness. For example:

• Keep things simple. Only include the necessary information to keep the forms as brief and concise as possible. Otherwise, you risk overwhelming users and reducing the likelihood of completing the form.
• Minimize the amount of typing involved. In most cases, your customers won’t want to spend considerable time filling out lengthy responses to form questions. Therefore, it’s a smart idea to include multiple choice answers when possible (and where applicable).
• Provide clear instructions. To make your forms as effective as possible, it’s vital to ensure that users understand what you’re asking and how to complete the fields correctly. You might consider adding example answers to demonstrate the type of responses you’re looking for.

Best practices for creating website forms vary based on the type you’re building and what your end goal is. However, it’s crucial to prioritize the UX to make the data collection process quick and effortless for your customers. 

What will you do with forms next?

Most website owners understand the importance of including contact forms on their websites. However, many overlook the various ways that forms can help drive conversions and generate leads.

As discussed in this post, you can use plenty of strategies to get creative with your forms. For example, you can use them to register users for events, conduct user surveys, let visitors sign up for your mailing list, and offer a seamless way to apply for jobs. 

Ready to build a site of your own? Get started with WordPress.com now.

This year it was hard to decide, and we wanted to also show who else got nominated, because they also deserve recognition, so it took a bit longer than we expected.

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The Django Software Foundation Board is pleased to announce that the 2024 Malcolm Tredinnick Memorial Prize has been awarded to Rachell Calhoun.

Rachell Calhoun is an influential figure within the Django community, well known for being cheerful and always willing to help others. She consistently empowers folks behind the scenes.

Rachell got her start in the Django community through a Django Girls Seoul event. Being an educator, she started organizing Django Girls Seoul events. Her contributions to Django Girls Seoul and Django Girls Grand Rapids exemplify her commitment to sharing knowledge, spreading Django and lifting others up. Rachell is now a trustee for Django Girls +, contributing to its mission of helping women and other underrepresented groups around the world learn programming with Django.

In 2022, Rachell co-founded Djangonaut Space, an initiative designed to support new contributors to the Django ecosystem, encouraging leadership and growth. Rachell’s willingness to help people achieve their goals and celebrate their achievements has been imprinted in Djangonaut Space’s culture. Rachell and Djangonaut Space have done a stellar job on helping people become contributors and Django community members.

Her commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion extends beyond her organizational work; she has volunteered at multiple DjangoCon US events, bringing her welcoming and inclusive spirit to the community. A long-time volunteer and speaker at DjangoCon US and DjangoCon Europe from 2016 to 2024, she has shared her expertise and insights on various topics related to Django and web development.

Rachell has contributed to Django for many years, she has been instrumental in creating spaces where people of all backgrounds can thrive, making her a beloved and respected member of the global Django ecosystem.

Some quotes from the thirteen people who nominated Rachell had this to say about her:

Rachell advocates for others constantly through sponsorship, inclusivity, and connection. She is extremely empathic and seeks to not only welcome others in, but to actively bring them into the group.

She has been one of the core members of Djangonaut Space which has done a lot for bringing new contributors into the Django community. This program has done a lot to excite and energize the Django community and Rachell is one of the major reasons why. —
Throughout her career she’s been involved in Django Girls starting about a decade ago in South Korea. She was a major organizer of the Grand Rapids, MI branch, before moving into the trustee role she occupies now.

Rachell is one of my favorite people and she’s been doing an excellent job at growing Django and helping others feel more welcome here. Rachell is an excellent choice for the Malcolm Tredinnick 2024 award!

— Tim Shilling

Rachell is an extremely skillful leader who is always nurturing newcomers into leaders. She has been pivotal to my experience with the Djangonaut Space Program.
I started out as a nervous Djangonaut who didn’t schedule my 1:1s until Rachell checked in with me and made sure I knew the program was a safe space to discuss anything.

When I joined the program organizers as a Navigator Coordinator, I was initially much more of a follower. Rachell knew to step back while continuing to provide her support, so I could step into the leadership role and get my job done.

Rachell shows people that she believes in them. She does this in a friendly, gentle, and encouraging manner. She never forces anyone to make decisions that they don’t feel comfortable with. The community is really lucky to have Rachell.

— Lilian

Rachell Calhoun, one of the organizers and founders of Djangonaut Space, has been an open, supportive, and educational help on my Django journey. Her contributions to the Djangonaut Space program are invaluable—a program I hold quite dearly as a cornerstone of my technical interactions and growth.

Rachell’s ideals of nurturing and guiding have shone through the program, for which I am grateful. Encouraging wonderful conversations, organizing and fostering mentorship, and being a great person!

I believe Rachell is an embodiment of the Malcolm Tredinnick spirit and am confident that should she win the prize, she would go on to create more impact for the Django community and the world at large.

— Emmanuel Katchy

Other nominations for this year included:

Anna Makarudze, Fundraising Coordinator at Django Girls+ Foundation, chair of the first DjangoCon Africa, previously served the DSF board as president.

Benjamin Balder Bach, chair of the DSF social media working group, organizer of Django Day Copenhagen for many years.

Black Python Devs, community founded by Jay Miller, to increase diversity and inclusion of typically underrepresented people.

Bhuvnesh Sharma, co-chair of the DSF social media working group, and co-founded and organized Django India.

Carlton Gibson, previously a Django fellow, co-host of Django Chat, volunteers in DjangoCon Europe and provides useful advice in forum and discord.

Christoph Bulter, active helper of the official and unofficial Django Discord.

Django Girls+, a non-profit organization and a community that empowers and helps women to organize free, one-day programming workshops by providing tools, resources and support.

Django Discord moderators and helpers, which are moderating the discord and provide help to keep the place welcoming and inclusive to everyone.

Daniel Moran, active contributor in various open-source projects, including django-tasks-scheduler. He is an administrator of the Django Commons organization.

Ester Beltrami, PyCon Italia and Django London organizer, is also a volunteer and a speaker in events such as EuroPython or DjangoCon Europe.

Felipe de Morais, co-founder of AfroPython, participant of Djangonaut Space program, organized and advised multiple Django Girls workshops across Brazil and Chile.

Jake Howard, speaker and contributor to Django, known for his work around background tasks.

Matt Westcott, frequent speaker and lead the development of Wagtail.

Russel Keith-Magee, python core contributor and previously Django core contributor and also served in the DSF board as President.

Ryan Cheley, django contributor and mentor (navigator) in Djangonaut Space program.

Simon Charette, long-time django contributor, previously member of the Django 5.x steering council

Sheena O’Connell, frequent speaker and DjangoCon Africa organizer.

Tom Carrick, Django Accessibility team creator and member, django contributor for many years and mentor (navigator) in Djangonaut Space program.

Tim Schilling, DEFNA secretary, DjangoCon Us organizer and co-founder of Djangonaut Space.

Will Vincent, former board member of the DSF, co-host of Django Chat and co-writer of Django News.

Each year we receive many nominations, and it is always hard to pick the winner. This year, as always, we received many nominations for the Malcolm Tredinnick Memorial Prize with some being nominated multiple times. Some have been nominated in multiple years. If your nominee didn’t make it this year, you can always nominate them again next year.

Malcolm would be very proud of the legacy he has fostered in our community!

Congratulations Rachell on the well-deserved honor!

The DjangoCon Europe 2026 call for organizers is now over. We’re elated to report we received three viable proposals, a clear improvement over recent years.

We’ll let the successful team decide when and how to make their announcement, but in the meantime – thank you to everyone who took part in this process ❤️ We’re elated to have such a strong community in Europe. And for now, look forward to DjangoCon Europe 2025 in Dublin, Ireland! 🍀

What about 2027?

We’re not ready to plan that yet, but if you’re interested in organizing – take a moment to add your name and email to our DjangoCon Europe 2027 expression of interest form. We’ll make sure to reach out once the time is right.

1. Legal threats close in on Benjamin Netanyahu  Reuters
2. Arrest warrants for Israeli leaders amplify Democratic rupture  The Hill
3. Israelis Don’t Have the Right to Condemn Netanyahu’s Arrest Warrant  Haaretz
4. ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu violate Rome Statute – opinion  The Jerusalem Post
5. Israelis unite behind their prime minister as Netanyahu faces an international arrest warrant  CNN

1. Middle East crisis live: IDF orders evacuation in Gaza City eastern suburb  The Guardian
2. LIVE: Israeli forces escalate southern Lebanon attacks, kill 35 in Gaza  Al Jazeera English
3. Israeli army orders Gaza City suburb evacuated  Reuters
4. Hundreds flee north Gaza as IDF orders more evacuations amid intense airstrikes  The Guardian
5. IDF orders Gaza City suburb evacuated as Hamas rockets continue  The Jerusalem Post

1. Developing Nations, NGOs Reject ‘Disaster’ COP29 Climate Deal  Forbes
2. U.N. Reaches $300 Billion Climate Financing Deal as Trump Looms  The Wall Street Journal
3. Cop29 showed climate progress can survive a Trump presidency – despite a disappointing deal  The Guardian
4. Here’s what to know about the new funding deal that countries agreed to at UN climate talks  The Associated Press
5. World agrees to climate deal on financial aid for developing countries after summit nearly implodes  CNN