A change log for the plugins and themes installed on the Lane Blog Network. If you suddenly start seeing issues, please check here to see if an update may be the problem. If so, contact us for help resolving the issue.
New Plugin
I added Smush by WPMU. This plugin watches images that are being uploaded to blogs and shrinks them down to a more reasonable size. This is good for a couple reasons. First, WordPress doesn’t even use full size images. At least, not really. So, having a photo straight off your phone that is the size of a building just takes up a lot of space and, if, for some reason, you tell WP to display that image on a page, it takes FOREVER for the image to display. This plugin will limit the max size of an image stored on the server to 2048×2048 pixels. That should be big enough to fit any needs. The second reason is simply disk space. I’m running the plugin now to “smush” images that are already on the server and one blog is 15% of the way through its images and has already saved over 200MB of disk space. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but if we can save a gig here or a gig there, that’s a big difference to a web server.
As always, if you notice any issues, just let me know. There were a lot of updates today.
We’ve made some big upgrades to the editor. Our new block-based editor is the first step toward an exciting new future with a streamlined editing experience across your site. You’ll have more flexibility with how content is displayed, whether you are building your first site, revamping your blog, or write code for a living.
Building with Blocks
The new block-based editor won’t change the way any of your content looks to your visitors. What it will do is let you insert any type of multimedia in a snap and rearrange to your heart’s content. Each piece of content will be in its own block; a distinct wrapper for easy maneuvering. If you’re more of an HTML and CSS sort of person, then the blocks won’t stand in your way. WordPress is here to simplify the process, not the outcome.
We have tons of blocks available by default, and more get added by the community every day. Here are a few of the blocks to help you get started:
Paragraph
Heading
Preformatted
Quote
Image
Gallery
Cover
Video
Audio
Columns
File
Code
List
Button
Embeds
More
Freedom to Build, Freedom to Write
This new editing experience provides a more consistent treatment of design as well as content. If you’re building client sites, you can create reusable blocks. This lets your clients add new content anytime, while still maintaining a consistent look and feel.
A Stunning New Default Theme
Introducing Twenty Nineteen, a new default theme that shows off the power of the new editor.
Designed for the block editor
Twenty Nineteen features custom styles for the blocks available by default in 5.0. It makes extensive use of editor styles throughout the theme. That way, what you create in your content editor is what you see on the front of your site.
Simple, type-driven layout
Featuring ample whitespace, and modern sans-serif headlines paired with classic serif body text, Twenty Nineteen is built to be beautiful on the go. It uses system fonts to increase loading speed. No more long waits on slow networks!
Versatile design for all sites
Twenty Nineteen is designed to work for a wide variety of use cases. Whether you’re running a photo blog, launching a new business, or supporting a non-profit, Twenty Nineteen is flexible enough to fit your needs.
Blocks provide a comfortable way for users to change content directly, while also ensuring the content structure cannot be easily disturbed by accidental code edits. This allows the developer to control the output, building polished and semantic markup that is preserved through edits and not easily broken.
Compose
Take advantage of a wide collection of APIs and interface components to easily create blocks with intuitive controls for your clients. Utilizing these components not only speeds up development work but also provide a more consistent, usable, and accessible interface to all users.
Create
The new block paradigm opens up a path of exploration and imagination when it comes to solving user needs. With the unified block insertion flow, it’s easier for your clients and customers to find and use blocks for all types of content. Developers can focus on executing their vision and providing rich editing experiences, rather than fussing with difficult APIs.
Prefer to stick with the familiar Classic Editor? No problem! Support for the Classic Editor plugin will remain in WordPress through 2021.
The Classic Editor plugin restores the previous WordPress editor and the Edit Post screen. It lets you keep using plugins that extend it, add old-style meta boxes, or otherwise depend on the previous editor. To install, visit your plugins page and click the “Install Now” button next to “Classic Editor”. After the plugin finishes installing, click “Activate”. That’s it!
Note to users of assistive technology: if you experience usability issues with the block editor, we recommend you continue to use the Classic Editor.
Big updates today. It’s been a while because WordPress had a major upgrade to version 5.0. Never a good idea to upgrade a network to a new major version until it has had some time to percolate. V5.0.1 was released this week, so we have taken all the steps…
Read the next post for information about all the new bells and whistles.
WordPress v5.0 & v5.0.1
Plugins
Elementor v2.3.6
Essential Addons for Elementor v2.8.6
WP Force Login v5.3
Multisite Clone Duplicator v1.5.3
Nextgen Gallery v3.1.2
PDF Embedder v4.0
Really Simple SSL v3.1.3
TinyMCE Advanced v4.8.2
Very Simple Event List v9.2
Wordfence v7.1.18
WP Latest Posts v4.5.4
Plugins
Elementor v2.2.1
Essential Addons for Elementor v2.7.8
Nextgen Gallery v3.0.8
PDF Embedder v3.2
Wordfence v7.1.11
WP Latest Posts v4.4.2
Themes
SiteOrigins North v1.5.1
Weaver XTreme v4.06
Added Disable Admin Notices plugin
Disable Admin Notices allows site admins to disable those annoying nag messages in Dashboard. Whenever a nag pops up you will now see a red “Hide notification forever” link (like this).
Just click it, and you won’t have to deal with that one again.
Did a lot of cleaning on the blog network this week. Archived several blogs that had not been updated in at least 6 months. (If yours is missing, email me and we’ll talk about putting it back.)
Also removed a number of unused plugins and added a few that will be useful going forward.
Over the next few months I’ll also be adding more updated themes and changing out the old themes that are no longer being updated so that the blog network stays safe and secure. If your site is using one of these old themes I will contact you directly and will be happy to help you make the change.
As always, if you see anything that doesn’t seem right, feel free to let me know.
