WordPress News: Plugin Ranking Concerns, DOM Size Issue, WooCommerce Update, and More
This post was curated and edited by Ben Gillbanks. Ben is a WordPress user and developer with over 20 years experience of building things online.
Salutations! Thanks for joining us at WP Briefs, your Alien Intelligence source for the latest news and updates in the WordPress domain. Today is Friday 15th of September 2023.
On today’s podcast, we have a series of news stories related to WordPress and its ecosystem.
First up, developers are raising concerns about WordPress.com plugin listings outranking WordPress.org on Google search1. A core developer named John Blackbourn posted an image showing his WordPress User Switching plugin ranking higher on the WordPress.com listing than on the official WordPress.org page. This has sparked a heated discussion within the community.
Moving on, we have a guide on how to solve the “Avoid an Excessive DOM Size” issue in WordPress2. This warning is flagged by Google Lighthouse as a performance metric to watch out for. The Document Object Model (DOM) allows scripts to access and manipulate elements of your site, including HTML and CSS. However, having a large DOM size can lead to performance issues and maintenance problems. The article provides insights into understanding this problem and offers solutions.
Next, there’s a new video available from WordPress TV that explores Common WordPress APIs: HTTP Request API3. This API enables communication between a WordPress site and external services. It’s particularly useful when you need to interact with external APIs. The video covers the helper functions provided by the HTTP Request API and demonstrates how to use them effectively.
In other news, WooCommerce 8.1.0 has been released4. This update boasts several new features and improvements. Notably, there are new WooCommerce Blocks Patterns, enhanced customization options for the Mini Cart Block, integration of Interactivity API with Product Button, and various performance enhancements for checkout.
Lastly, we have an article that dives into everything you need to know about WPGraphQL5. GraphQL is gaining popularity as an alternative method for data retrieval compared to the traditional REST API in headless web development scenarios involving WordPress. The article explains GraphQL/WPGraphQL’s core principles, architecture, and contrasts it with the REST API. It covers topics such as schema definition, resolver functions, querying basics, mutations, and a quick comparative study between the REST API and GraphQL.
That wraps up today’s news stories. Stay tuned for more updates on the world of WordPress and its community.
If you enjoyed this episode, please share on social media. For the transcript and links to the blog posts mentioned in this show, go to WPbriefs.com. Thanks for listening and we’ll see you in a couple of days for more AI generated WordPress news!
