Issue #150 Loop WP

Hi, friend. 👋

Welcome to Issue #150 of Loop WP!

Last week, we discussed Matt Mullenweg’s proposal (reducing major core releases to one per year) in more detail, as the initial proposal has evolved.

This week is slightly different from usual, as it’s a milestone (in more ways than one) for Loop WP.

Let’s go! 👇

Quick Note

In case you missed it, over the last couple of weeks, we looked at a controversial proposal from Matt Mullenweg and its evolution.

Then this happened (which could be a coincidence in this case). 👇

I guess we will know more on or after Thursday, March 27th, 2025. 😬

Celebrating 150 Issues of Loop WP!

Just over 30% of you lovely readers are new to this newsletter since July 2024, shortly before I rebranded WP “Wednesdays” to “Loop WP”.

To be honest, I didn’t think I would ever make it to Issue #150. 😬

Issue #100 was sent on June 21st, 2023. That’s almost two years ago, and if you do the maths, not one newsletter per week. 🤦‍♂️

(In fact, I only sent 19 newsletters over the course of the year after Issue #100.)

As around 70% of you know (or might have forgotten), I really struggled with this newsletter’s letter content for a long time.

🧠 I was going to focus on WooCommerce entirely, but you friend changed my mind and I’ve kept things a mix of WordPress and WooCommerce.

A Big Thank You

🎉 Since rebranding my newsletter and moving from Mailchimp to Beehiiv, Loop WP has massively changed.

Growth is still slow (but intentional), and I’ve introduced sponsorships, which have helped transform this newsletter and the content I provide, as the stats show. 👇

• Subscribers increase by 30.4%

• Click Through Rate increased by 118.4%

• Open Rate increased by 10.24%

This newsletter would literally not be here without you. ❤️

The Future is Bright

Recently, “Click Through Rates” for Loop WP have been off the charts at 19.3%. 🤯

That’s an insane number, and it’s apparent recent issues and opinion/research pieces have struck a chord with my readers.

So I will be adding more of those in the future. 🎉

At times, I still have massive imposter syndrome with this newsletter, but on reflection, its identity has never been stronger, and I look forward to seeing that continue.

It’s All About You, Friend

🙌 Remember, this newsletter is all about you.

I get lots of replies and engagement, and I want that to continue. So, if you ever have a question, feedback, or topic you want me to discuss, reply and let me know.

Sponsorship Opportunities

🚨 The Google Doc contains all the details if you’re interested in sponsoring the Loop WP Newsletter.

Before You Go

⏭️ On Thursday, March 27th, as many Core Committers as possible will meet to discuss and vote on Matt’s proposal, which we introduced in Issue #148 and discussed in more detail as the proposal evolved in Issue #149.

🚨 This vote could (and probably will) decide the future of WordPress updates for the next two to three years.

I’ll ask the same question as last week, friend: "If the majority of core committers don’t want a one-year release cycle, will Matt ignore this and establish a new status quo regardless?”

I guess we will find out and be discussing the outcome in next week’s newsletter. 😬

See you next week! 😀

Weekly WordPress News & Tips

This week's excellent and insightful WordPress News & Tips:

• Huge Update - What’s New in Fluent Forms Version 6.0. (Fluent Forms)

• CloudFest Hackathon - Old-school WordPress contributing vibes. (Progress Planner)

• Addictive Gaming - Rocket Fuel Rush is a new game with some big prizes! (Gravity Forms)

• Time for Change? - CloudFest Hackathon vs WordCamp Contributors Day. (Remkus de Vries)

• Identity Crisis - Is WordPress for everyone, and should it be? (Katie Keith)

• Is It Me? - Who is Responsible for Website Accessibility: Your Client, or You? (Equalize Digital)

• Patchstack Whitepaper - WordPress Plugin Vulnerabilities Rise by 34% as CRA Compliance Deadline Nears (The Repository)

• Magic! - A MCP Server for WordPress which can be used by any MCP Client like Claude Desktop, Cursor etc. (Vikas Singhal)

• ACPT - The ULTIMATE Beginners Guide to ACPT & Bricks Builder For WordPress. (WP Tuts)

• Blown Away - Why I Switched to CloudPanel for WordPress Hosting. (Jonathan Jernigan)

• Fraud Protection - 5 ways to prevent spam orders in WooCommerce. (Kinsta)

• That Question - Should WordPress ship with SQLite by default, you can replace it with MySQL as needed? (Brian Coords)

• AI Caught My Eye - GoDaddy Managed WordPress Hosting Review: Speed, Security, and AI-Powered Tools. (WP Mayor)

• Search Opinion - Build websites like it’s 2005 (and win in 2025) (Joost de Valk)

• AI, Positioning & More - Accepting Change in WordPress, a discussion with Nathan Wrigley and Matt Medeiros. (The WP Minute)

• Web Agency Summit - April 7-11, to Tackle Growing Agency Challenges With Focus on AI, Automation, and Scaling Smarter. (The Repository)

• Get Inspired - Discover how to supercharge your workflows with Gravity Forms, AI, and automation tools in a hands-on live demo. (Gravity Forms)

If you have a question about this email or WordPress, reply, and I will answer you as soon as possible.

👋 Until next time,