Freedom, liberty and independence are human rights. But they depend on responsibility. Responsibility to others, to our future, to the community. Responsibility for our actions and our choices. The only way to earn our independence is to keep the promises we’ve made. Can we become the present that the future will thank us for?

A few days ago, Jane was browsing for new sunglasses. Before she knew it, every site she visited was showing her relevant ads. It wasn’t magic. Just algorithms working with behavioral data. But data collection is no longer something we can do in the background. With rising privacy concerns, businesses must now lean on zero-party data. And what better channel to invest in privacy-first communicati

Vulnerability reports and responsible disclosures are essential for website security awareness and education. Automated attacks targeting known software vulnerabilities are one of the leading causes of website compromises. To help educate website owners about potential threats to their environments, we’ve compiled a list of important security updates and vulnerability patches for the WordPress

As many of my readers get ready for a long weekend, here are two of my books now on discount at Amazon–for another few days. This is Strategy is 90% off on the Kindle. $3! And This is Marketing is discounted as well. If you’ve read or listened to either one, here’s a new AI tool I just built as a free bonus.

Is billboard advertising still relevant today? Yes, all because of costly signaling. This behavioral science principle states that expensive signals indicate higher quality or status. Although a broader concept about human behavior, costly signaling absolutely applies to advertising. What, after all, is the value of a social media ad? While highly effective, social ads are cheap, so everyone can

Are you struggling to stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace? Wondering how to leverage your expertise to generate more leads and sales for your business? In this article, you’ll discover how to build and monetize a personal brand that creates exposure, generates qualified leads, and drives sales through authentic relationship building. Why Personal Brand […]

Stick around ‘til the end for a pug in a rug… In today’s edition: Why the world’s biggest physics lab made the leap to WordPress. You can now customize your “Next” button. Use this power wisely. Accessibility docs are finally getting the overhaul they deserve, and you can help! Hot Off The Presses: What’s New? “JSON? I don’t know him too well, but he seems like a nice guy.”

A friend sorts his records in an interesting way: not by name or genre, but by which musicians are friends with each other. That means some shelves are very crowded, and I’m imagining a few notorious artists have plenty of room all to themselves. It’s possible that we sort the folks in our lives this way as well. The people who can be counted on, who are part of a larger circle, who are dynamic o

Source When you’re a blogger, a marketer, a freelancer, or you’re a creative building your own business, there’s nothing more frustrating than chaos behind the scenes. When you know that you want to focus on the work you love to do, knowing that all the other areas of the business need your time and attention can be draining. But that doesn’t have to be the case. In this blog post, we’re going to

During our investigation of an SEO spam infection (spam content designed to manipulate search engine results), we discovered a nicely crafted plugin that named itself after the infected domain, helping it evade detection. While this tactic was simple, it easily blended in with other legitimate plugins, making it harder to spot during the troubleshooting process.

AI voice technology has been moving fast for a while now. But recently, it feels like we‘ve shifted into a completely different gear. We’re not just talking about smoother narration or cleaner text-to-speech anymore. These tools are starting to sound like actual people, with emotions, personalities, and conversational quirks that can genuinely fool you. I wanted to see how far things had come, so

I still remember the first time one of my articles appeared in the top 3 search results, but Google’s AI Overview credited someone else. The frustrating part? The information came directly from my post. ? That moment really opened my eyes. That’s why I’ve spent the last several months studying how AI search tools like Google’s AI Overview, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude pull information. I’ve teste

Typesetters did not like the laser printer. Wedding photographers still hate the iphone. And some musicians are outraged that AI is now making mediocre pop music. One group of esteemed authors is demanding that book publishers refuse to use AI in designing book covers, recording audiobooks or a range of other tasks. As always, this isn’t going to work very well. Plato was sure that the invention

Are you overwhelmed by the endless tasks that drain your productivity? Wondering how to break free from the time-consuming, busy work that keeps you from focusing on what truly matters? In this article, you’ll discover how to leverage ChatGPT as your ultimate productivity partner and regain precious hours in your workday through strategic AI assistance. […]

Earlier this year, I was handed an AI-generated content project with a deceptively simple goal: adapt email messages for international audiences. This wasn’t my first time navigating global nuance. With an MBA in International Business and experience working on a global consulting project in Portugal, I’d already seen how messages land differently depending on culture, tone, and language.

A sea slug sees far more colors than you do, and you probably see more than a profoundly color-blind person. Who’s right? We each carry our own version of reality, our own story about what happened, what’s around us and how things work. Our chosen reality serves two useful purposes: First, it binds us to the others in our circle. If you seek to communicate, speaking Esperanto in Nashville isn’t

Stick around ‘til the end for a guy whose sense of humor speaks louder than words. In today’s edition: FAIR play? The WordPress decentralized mirrorverse is here. PayU plugin left the door wide open… oops. SponsorMeWP: Because you can’t pay your electricity bill in WordPress street cred. Hot Off The Presses: What’s New? In the last DEV issue, we warned about AI-generated code flooding the repo

10 Proven Strategies to Grow Your YouTube Channel In today’s digital world, YouTube is more than just a video-sharing platform it’s a launchpad for creators, brands, and entertainers to build global audiences. But with 500 hours of video uploaded every minute, creativity alone isn’t enough. You need a smart, focused strategy to stand out. If you’re tired of slow growth, unpredictable views, and s

If you’re a startup founder or marketer trying to build momentum with little to no budget, good news: Being scrappy is the best place to start. Some of the most effective marketing I’ve ever done — from the early days of my career to my time at Drift — came from moments when there was no budget at all. When you don’t have big dollars to hide behind, you’re forced to get creative, move fast, and

Sometimes you don’t need to tweak every setting of a plugin to get the most out of it. This Iron Security review gives you a plugin using toggle switches that together will protect your entire site and users – all in one interface and within seconds.

Welcome to the June 2025 edition of WPBeginner Spotlight! This month brings exciting updates across the WordPress ecosystem, including new plugin features, AI tools, and community highlights. Highlights include Charitable’s donor management system, expanded AI in Uncanny Automator, and takeaways from WordCamp Europe 2025 There’s plenty to discover, so let’s dive into this month’s most noteworthy

Spend enough time inventing possible futures in your head and you won’t have any time to build the future we will all share. Time to get to work.

Game theory has a lousy name. When most people think of games, they think of commercial stuff for kids, like Chutes and Ladders or possibly Monopoly. But a game is simply a system where humans, facing scarcity, make choices. Scarcity leads to choices and to competition. It turns out that our culture, our commerce and our lives are simply the result of billions of people making billions of choices

That’s a complete reversal of how it used to be. Colleges used to be measured by how many books they had in the library. Access to courses was restricted. If knowledge was power, controlling access was essential. They even call it the ‘admissions office.’ Part of the status that comes from higher education is that they controlled who could find the information and who was left behind. Today, of c

Last month, we encountered a particularly interesting and complex malware case that stood out from the usual infections we see in compromised WordPress websites. At first glance, the site looked clean, no visible signs of defacement, no malicious redirects, and nothing suspicious in the plugin list. But beneath the surface, a hidden infection chain was quietly working to deliver a trojan to

WordCamp US 2025 is heading to vibrant Portland, Oregon, from August 26–29, 2025! Join fellow open source enthusiasts, developers, designers, and WordPress professionals from across the United States and around the world for four days of learning, networking, and collaboration at the Oregon Convention Center. Nestled in the Pacific Northwest, Portland is famous for its creative spirit, lush green

When I launched my first WordPress website, I wasn’t thinking about privacy laws. Like most beginners, I was focused on creating helpful content and getting more traffic. But times have changed. Now, I hear from many small business owners who are worried about data privacy. Laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) sound intimidating, and with fines reaching $7,500 per violation,

My son and I were recently watching some AI-generated videos when he suddenly stopped and asked, “Wait… none of these are real?” That pause perfectly sums up where we stand with AI video tools right now. We‘ve reached the point where even a casual viewer has to take a step back and consider if what they’re seeing is real or AI. But, not all tools propel viewers past the uncanny valley.

At sea level, water boils at 100 degrees C. It doesn’t matter how much more heat you use, steam is what you get. It turns out that water this hot makes lousy coffee. Tea too. And an amp turned up to 11 doesn’t sound that good. Just because we can send more emails, hustle a bit harder or run the machine until it is at capacity doesn’t mean we should.

“Chi parla una sola lingua vive una sola vita.” My grandmother’s words echoed in my mind as I stared at my website analytics. The old Italian saying means “those who speak only one language live only one life” — and my website was certainly living a very limited one. What if there was a way […] Read More… The post appeared first on Learn WordPress with WPLift .

Do you ever look at an ad and wonder, “What on earth does that mean?” That’s how I felt after viewing this Stripe ad. Source Now, I love Stripe. Their product is tremendous in the world of payment processing, but this ad makes no sense. Not only is it confusing, but it’s missing all the elements that I think make for a good ad. The ad needs a refresh, and behavioral science can help.

Are you struggling to position your product as essential rather than optional? Wondering why your marketing tactics aren’t converting like they used to? In this article, you’ll learn how to craft a sustainable messaging strategy that makes your product irresistible by addressing real customer needs. You’ll explore how to apply frameworks like Jobs to Be […]

Verbosity is the new brevity. Google felt like a miracle. We could type just a word or two (“ blog “) and it would magically guess what we wanted and take us there. This shortcut spread from Google to the search built into online shopping as well. How convenient. A few words and done. AI isn’t like that. In fact, our concision is getting in the way of the insight we’re looking for. Go to Etsy and

Spammy posts and pages being placed on WordPress websites is one of the most common infections that we come across. The reason being is that the attack is very low-level in terms of sophistication: All that is required of the attacker is to brute force their way into the wp-