Issue #170 Loop WP

Remote Data Blocks - VPNs - Accessibility

Author

Simon Harper
August 13, 2025

In partnership with

Hi, friend. 👋

Welcome to Issue #170 of Loop WP!

Last week, Hostinger entered the Agentic WordPress sphere, and Shopify made a huge AI announcement that should cause concern for WooCommerce. And finally, we have some easy mega menus coming to the block editor.

This week, the UK’s Online Safety Act shakes up local content in a VPN-first world, plus Remote Data Blocks in WordPress and Elementor’s Ally accessibility plugin.

Let’s go! 👇

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Localised Content in a VPN-First World

Tom Cafferkey (Senior Software Engineer, Automattic - North West, UK) shared in his latest blog post, “Localised content in a VPN-first world“, about the new UK “Online Safety Act” and its impact on the web and technology.

I wanted to highlight a particular section of Tom’s article for your attention, “When local is no longer local“:

- Localised currency: Not if you’re routing through another country.

- Regional news: Wont work if your IP says you’re half way around the world to where you actually are.

- Local media: Ads now appear in different languages showing products that are not relevant to you. Video suggestions are now in different languages etc.

🚨 Tom is based in the UK (like me, but I’m also based in the EU as I live in Northern Ireland), but it’s important to note that this law does not just apply to UK citizens.

‼️ There have already been challenges from Wikipedia and accusations of a “license for censorship”, and there will be a lot more in the news cycles about this for months (possibly years) to come.

VPNs are on the rise with Proton VPN (I am a very happy user after switching from Nord), experiencing a 1800% surge before the new law came into force on July 25th.

You can read Tom’s blog in full for some more insights and learn more about the “Online Safety Act” on the Gov.uk dedicated explainer.

I will leave you with this parting thought from Tom:

❝

People value privacy, and when their comfort is crossed, they vote with their clicks. IP-based experiences are becoming dangerously irrelevant in that reality.

Remote Data Blocks

I had never heard of Remote Data Blocks until Brian Coords reposted on X from Brendan O’Connell in the context of how this works with block bindings. 👇

Remote Data Blocks enables you to easily integrate real-time data from external sources into your WordPress site so your content is never out of date.

😎 I have to agree with Matt Cromwell that the Playground demo had me sold, and I need to dig into this thing (and I'll be doing that as one of my deep dives after the summer).

Elementor’s Ally Plugin

I first mentioned Elementor’s new accessibility plugin (Ally) way back in Issue 151.

🤯 Despite being introduced less than six months ago, the plugin already has over 300,000 installs according to the plugin repository.

I still haven’t tested the plugin yet (to be honest, I had forgotten about it), and I currently use a plugin from Equalize Digital called “Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker.”

✅ I have used a mixture of the free and pro versions, and I’ve been very happy with the plugin.

Accessibility is a topic I frequently discuss, particularly in the context of our last deep dive, when the European Accessibility Act came into law.

👀 Having seen those installation numbers and the most recent detailed look at the plugin from The Repository, I will be taking a closer look at Ally for a future version of this newsletter.

Have you used Ally in the past or do you use it now, friend? Please reply to this email and let me know.

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That’s It For This Week 👋

Next week, I’m taking a couple of days off, so I’m not quite sure what this newsletter will look like, but I’m sure there will be plenty to discuss.

See you next week! 😀

Weekly WordPress News & Tips

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

  • This is Cool! - Phased Plugin Releases Land on WordPress.org With 24-Hour Delay Option. (The Repository)

  • One Source of Truth - How I Build Dynamic CSS Grids in Minutes with Bricks & Advanced Themer. (WPTuts)

  • It’s Here! - Portland, Are You Ready? The WCUS 2025 Schedule Has Arrived! (WordPress)

  • Big News! - Rocket.net Appoints Seasoned WordPress Leader Jessica Frick as General Manager. (Rocket.net)

  • Woo Demo Stores - Playing with the WordPress Playground CLI and Woo's Smooth Generator to build full Woo demo stores in seconds. (Brian Coords)

  • Is it Woo’s Responsibility? - Fixing the WordPress/WooCommerce admin dashboard. (Rodolfo Melgoli)

  • I agree - Vanilla WordPress is no longer for beginners, and lots of commentators also agree. (Derek Ashauer)

  • Tutorial - How to use the GenerateBlocks Navigation Block for Mobile Everywhere Navigation. (GeneratePress)

  • The Results Are In - First FAIR TSC Election Keeps Dils, Epstein, and McCue at the Helm. (The Repository)

  • Strict CSP - A new WordPress security plugin: Strict CSP. It helps mitigate cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities on the frontend and login screen (but not yet in the WP admin). (Weston Ruter)

  • Exciting? - What’s new for developers? (August 2025). (WordPress)

  • Developer Advisory - Changes to session management and cron jobs in WooCommerce 10.1. (WooCommerce)

  • Legal Updates - An overview of the Keller v Automattic & Mullenweg class action case. (The Delta)

  • Core AI Features - AI Chat Summary: August 2025. (WordPress)

  • What & Why? - The WordPress Abilities API. (Jonathan Bossenger)

  • Legal Updates 2 - WP Engine and Automattic Clash Over Scope of Discovery in Ongoing Legal Battle. (The Repository)

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

👋 Until next time,

Simon Harper's handwritten signature