WordPress News Roundup October 2016: REST API Content Endpoints Approved for WordPress 4.7 and Mullenweg Calls Out Wix

October 2016 settled the REST API question that had divided contributors since February. After a merge proposal on October 10, the content endpoints were conditionally approved on October 18 and officially approved the next day, putting a complete, built-in REST API on course for WordPress 4.7. Twenty Seventeen was merged into core the same week, and the first 4.7 beta followed at the end of the month.

The month ended with a licensing dispute that spilled far beyond the WordPress community, as Matt Mullenweg accused Wix of using GPL-licensed WordPress code in its proprietary mobile app.

Mergers, Acquisitions, and Investments

No significant acquisitions or funding rounds were announced in October. Sponsorship stood in for investment: XWP became the first financial sponsor of HeroPress, giving the storytelling project its first dedicated funding, and multilingual plugin Weglot said it had passed €10,000 in monthly revenue.

WordPress Core Updates

• REST API content endpoints approved: The REST API team proposed merging the content endpoints into 4.7 on October 10. They were conditionally approved on October 18 and officially approved on October 19, ending months of uncertainty.
• Twenty Seventeen merged: The new default theme was committed to core on October 20.
• Customizer changesets: 4.7 would ship infrastructure from the Customize Snapshots feature plugin, making Customizer changes persistent like autosaved drafts and enabling starter content.
• More 4.7 features: Custom CSS in the Customizer, page templates for any post type, a per-user admin language setting, and the ability for developers to register custom bulk actions in list tables. The underline and justify buttons were removed from the editor toolbar.
• WordPress 4.7 Beta 1: Released at the end of October.

Other WordPress News

• Mullenweg and Wix: Over the weekend before October 31, Matt Mullenweg published a post saying Wix had copied GPL-licensed editor code from the WordPress mobile app into its own app and should release the whole app under the GPL. Wix CEO Avishai Abrahami replied the next day, citing the company’s open-source contributions, but did not address the requirement to release the full app.
• Hurricane Matthew: LoopConf was postponed and rescheduled for February 6 to 8, 2017, in Salt Lake City, while WordCamp Orlando was cancelled and later rescheduled for November 12 and 13.
• Theme directory controversy: A row over which themes appeared on the directory’s “Popular” list exposed weaknesses in its ranking algorithm, and GoDaddy’s new Primer theme was criticised for appearing to bypass the review queue that other authors waited months in.
• Translation Day returns: The Polyglots team announced a second Global WordPress Translation Day for November 12.
• WordPress.com features: WordPress.com added SEO tools to its Business plan and customisation options for AMP pages, and Automattic released a free WordPress stickers app for iOS 10.
• BuddyPress 2.7: Released on October 21 with an overhaul of group queries and improvements for site administrators.
• Kinsta scholarship: Lizz Ehrenpreis won Kinsta’s $1,500 travel scholarship to WordCamp US.
• Looking to 2018: WordCamp Europe said applications to host the 2018 event would open in December.
• Giving back: Website Weekend Los Angeles brought WordPress and web developers together to build sites for non-profits on October 22 and 23.

Security Alerts and Plugin Vulnerabilities

• Headway 3.8.9: Headway Themes patched a potential cross-site scripting vulnerability on October 17, amid continuing doubts about the company’s future.
• No core security release: October passed without a WordPress security release as the team focused on 4.7.
• Internet-wide disruption: On October 21, a massive DDoS attack on DNS provider Dyn, driven by the Mirai botnet of compromised devices, made many major websites unreachable for hours, a reminder of how much sites depend on shared infrastructure beyond their own servers.

Industry Trends and Insights

Approving the content endpoints confirmed WordPress’ direction as an application platform. With a full REST API in core, developers could build JavaScript front ends, mobile apps and integrations against any WordPress 4.7 site without installing a plugin. The State of JavaScript survey published early in the month, which showed React emerging as the clear front-end favourite, underlined which way front-end development was heading.

The Wix dispute was a rare public argument about the GPL between two major website platforms. It showed how WordPress’ licence could reach into competitors’ products when they used its code, and it put the hosted website builders, which were growing quickly, squarely in the WordPress community’s sights.

Theme of the Month: Primer

GoDaddy’s Primer was one of the most talked-about themes of October, both as a clean, flexible free theme from a major host and as the centre of a debate about fairness in the review queue. The episode pushed the Theme Review Team to confront the bottlenecks that kept other authors waiting.

Plugin of the Month: Customize Snapshots

The Customize Snapshots feature plugin, developed largely by XWP, let users save and preview Customizer changes before publishing them. Its infrastructure was merged into 4.7 as Customizer changesets, enabling starter content and laying the groundwork for drafting and scheduling site changes.

Host of the Month: Kinsta

Kinsta awarded its $1,500 WordCamp US travel scholarship in October, a modest but visible investment in the community from a young managed host. It was part of a broader pattern of hosting companies building their reputations through community support as well as performance.

Founder of the Month: Matt Mullenweg

Matt Mullenweg, co-creator of WordPress and founder of Automattic, chose a very public fight with Wix over the GPL in October. Whatever one thought of the tone, it was a clear statement that WordPress’ licence was not optional for anyone who used its code, including commercial competitors.

Looking Ahead to November 2016

November was set to bring further 4.7 betas and a release candidate ahead of the planned December 6 launch. The second Global WordPress Translation Day was set for November 12, the .blog domain was due to reach general availability, and the host city for WordCamp US 2017 was expected to be named.