Issue #166 Loop WP

Hi, friend. 👋

Welcome to Issue #166 of Loop WP!

Last week, we launched our summer newsletter format with a brief update on Cloudflare, a Birthday Celebration, a Security Course, and a Free Plugin!

This week, we explore View Transitions, WordPress 6.9, and a debate surrounding themes.

Let’s go! 👇

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View Transitions

View Transitions 1.1.0 is out! It’s an excellent plugin which I use on all my sites and client sites.

Adding view transitions for WP Admin (opt-in), control over the transition duration, better interoperability with theme support, and compatibility with reduced motion preferences for accessibility.

Props to Felix Arntz for the plugin and these quick updates since the plugin launch

July 2025 Core Committers Check‑In (WordPress)

After announcing one major version of WordPress per year, we will now have a second major version this year, and it appears to be very promising! 👇

WordPress 6.9

• 😎 The team is refining the design tools, writing flow and block bindings, as well as polishing the HTML & Interactivity APIs, and improving the command palette.

• ✨ Considering launching a “canonical” AI‑focused plugin (think Abilities API) instead of baking AI into core.

Admin Overhaul (“MP7”) Underway

• 👀 Testing a wp‑admin refresh via the Gutenberg plugin is likely an “opt‑in” or separate “MP7-style” plugin.

• Focused user‑testing through the Gutenberg ecosystem, WordCamps, and cohorts to shape it.

• Also exploring block‑level commenting and async workflows as part of the redesign.

Plugin Classification Gets Clearer

• Defined four plugin types:

  • Canonical (supported by WP.org and a DRI)

  • Feature (temporary),

  • Experimental (proving ground),

  • Support (helper tools).

• ✅ Longer‑term plans to make these distinctions visible in the plugin directory and even within the wp‑admin.

Support Policy

• Dropping support for WP 4.1 – 4.6 soon; next up is 4.9 (~1.5% usage).

• 🧠 They’re eyeing a sub-5 % usage threshold to decide on future removals, likely on an annual cycle.

Data Importers

• Time to revive import tools for platforms like Substack, Squarespace, Wix, and Framer.

• These plugins can be viewed as a gateway/“first impression”. Imports can help decide if a user sticks with WordPress.

• Approaches include:

  • Canonical plugins,

  • Browser add‑ons,

  • API tools,

  • Strong documentation.

Default Themes Under Review

• 🤔 Debate over skipping a new TT6 theme this year -maybe focus on patterns, starter templates, and showcasing frontend features instead. **

• No decision has been made yet, but the value of themes for education and demos remains strong.

** Keep this point in mind as you read the last section of this email about a conversation around Etch.

Extra Chatter

There were some other discussions as part of the core check-in, with some highlights:

• Theme support forums need more hands. AI assistants or better onboarding could help?

• Structured user‑testing programs are overdue.

• 😎 Long‑term idea: “WapuGPT” – an LLM tool trained on WP docs for support.

• 🎉 Admin notice fatigue: conversations on improving UX, dismissible alerts, better banner guidance. **

** I don’t know about you, friend, but that last point is looong overdue!

You can read the full version of Mary Hubbard’s announcement over on WordPress.org.

Outdated & Should Be Disregarded

Remember, I asked you to keep this point in mind from the latest core contributors check-in:

Jamie Marsland surfaced this post on X about WordPress themes being an “outdated architecture and should be disregarded.”

The post was from Kevin Geary, and looks like this:

You can make up your mind on this, friend, and I’m sure you have your own thoughts, but I encourage you to read the comments and in particular from:

• Mike McAlister

• Brian Gardner

• Kevin Geary

I’m not going to say whether I disagree with Kevin or Jamie (who is coming around to Kevin’s thinking), and that’s mainly because Kevin is a polarising character, and I’m not being drawn into tribalism.

That’s It For This Week 👋

📢 If you have subscribed in the last couple of weeks, over the summer (starting last week), this newsletter will be keeping its weekly format, but we won’t be going as deep into a “single” weekly topic.

💡 I wanted to maintain my weekly sending frequency instead of switching to an email every other week, but with my kids being out of school, I can’t go into as much detail as usual.

See you next week! 😀

Weekly WordPress News & Tips

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

• Angie - The first agentic AI plugin for WordPress. (Elementor)

• Targeted Attacks - Malware Found in Official GravityForms Plugin Indicating Supply Chain Breach. (Patchstack)

• A Transformation - WordPress Plugin Review Team Renames Itself the “Plugins Team”. (The Repository)

• Magic Pattern - Beautiful pure CSS background patterns that you can actually use in your projects!. (Jim Raptis)

• Closing a 15-Year-old Ticket - Expose height and width attributes to 'wp_get_attachment_image_attributes' filter. (WordPress)

• Why WS Form Stands Out - A Conversation with Founder Mark Westguard. (Remkus de Vries)

• Office Hours - Understand WooCommerce’s future marketing plans and how they create opportunities for growth. (WooCommerce)

• Introducing WordPress Credits - A New Contribution Internship Program for University Students. (WordPress)

• Making Changes - Actionable insights for your products each week. (WP Product Talk)

• Well-Known File Manager - llms.txt is probably a waste of time. But you know what isn't? All of the other 'standards' files you should care about. (Jono Alderson)

• Introducing Achievements - The WP World will award you achievement badges just for doing things you’re already doing on the site! (The WP World)

• Design Tokens - A possible system and solution coming this year for Block Themes? (Justin Tadlock)

• AI Team - AI Chat Summary – 10 July 2025. (WordPress)

• Secure Hosting Alliance - A New Trust Seal Backed by WordPress Hosts Aims to Set the Standard for Ethical Hosting. (The Repository)

• It’s Finally Here! - WooCommerce 10.0.1 – 10.0.2: Dot Release. (WooCommerce)

• Building the Block Hooks API - My WordPress core experience. (Tom Cafferkey)

• Maintenance Release - WordPress 6.8.2 is now available! (WordPress)

• WordPress Themes - Custom styling for WordPress block themes using a child theme. (Kinsta)

• Q&A - How do you achieve fast initial response times to support tickets? (Katie Keith)

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

👋 Until next time,